Wicken Rose Cottage, Ely

Cambridgeshire. Sleeps up to 2

The only holiday cottage on the Wicken Fen Nature Reserve.

Wicken Rose Cottage is uniquely placed at the heart of the National Trust’s oldest nature reserve and England’s most famous fen. With an abundance of wildlife and walks from the doorstep, this semi-detached cottage offers a snug spot for two.

The front door opens into a cosy little living room. This leads to a light kitchen and then to the back porch, which has a breakfast bar and garden views. The enclosed back garden has a seating area and planting inspired by the fen, with hazel fencing and a bog garden.

Stairs from the kitchen lead to the upstairs landing where you’ll find the shower room and the small, restful bedroom. The king size bed has a view of a grass paddock, where you may see very young animals with their mothers or more often a muntjac deer. The Wicken Fen chickens live just along the lane, so you might also hear the cockerel in the morning.

The lane that passes the cottage leads to the visitor centre before becoming walking trails. Wicken Fen is one of Europe’s most important wetlands, and the raised boardwalk gives easy access to the landscape of flowering meadows, sedge and reedbeds. Spot the herds of free-roaming konik ponies and highland cattle, here helping to engineer new habitats.