Outbuilding of the Week: Plankbridge Shepherd’s Huts

In England’s bucolic south west, the rolling hills, moors, and woodlands will be forever associated with the 19th century novelist Thomas Hardy. And at Plankbridge, which produces hand-crafted shepherd’s huts, a little bit of Hardy’s own time lives on.

Richard Lee, who trained as a furniture designer, and Jane Dennison discovered an ancient hut near Thomas Hardy’s cottage in Dorset and then set about making their own. Now the couple and their team of artisans make huts that start at £19,800 for the Simply Classic, with bespoke huts starting at £22,225 and a new larger Living Hut around £35,000. Let’s take a closer look:

Photography courtesy of Plankbridge.

Plankbridge shepherd's huts UK — Above: Shepherd’s huts have dotted the landscape in parts of rural England for hundreds of years, when they were pulled out into the hills to provide shelter for shepherds: in *Far From The Madding Crowd*, Thomas Hardy described Gabriel Oak nursing a lamb in his shepherd’s hut.

At Plankbridge, staying true to the tradition of the original shepherd’s huts is not hard, as the firm acquired copies of the original blueprints from local Dorchester foundry Lott and Walne, established in 1899. The huts today are still made with a metal chassis and four sturdy cast iron wheels.

The beauty of the shepherd’s hut is that it blends into any landscape. Prince Charles has a Plankbridge hut at his Gloucestershire home, Highgrove. The huts are also used at The Pig on the Beach and at National Trust properties too.