Farms for City Children - Nethercott House

Children’s author Michael Morpugo and his wife Clare founded Farms for City Children in 1976. The charity now owns three farms in the west country of which Wick Court is one. We welcome around 3,200 children and 400 teachers a year.

Nethercott House is a traditional mixed dairy, beef and sheep farm in the heart of Devon..

We offer urban children from all over the country a unique opportunity to live and work together for a week at a time on a real farm in the heart of the countryside.

Nethercott House is a huge Victorian manor house, with beautiful grounds and amazing views towards Dartmoor. Situated just outside the village of Iddesleigh, close to the River Torridge, it is twenty minutes north of Okehampton.

The land surrounding Nethercott House is farmed in partnership with brothers Graham and David Ward, a relationship that goes back to the very earliest days of the Charity when the family partnership of Graham and David and their father John Ward helped Clare and Michael Morpurgo to start Farms for City Children in 1976. Graham has a herd of organic milking Friesians, while David farms sheep and a beef herd. The children also help look after donkeys and a wide range of poultry. There is a large walled kitchen garden where the children help grow the vegetables they eat with their meals.