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Getting here

Halsway Manor is located at the base of the Quantock Hills National Landscape in West Somerset, just outside the village of Crowcombe. Despite our rural location, we are accessible by car or public transport, and only 30 minutes from the M5 motorway. There is a train station in nearby Taunton and a regular bus service.

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By car

We are located just off the A358 on the Taunton to Minehead road, only 30 minutes from the M5 motorway (Junction 25, Taunton).

Maps: Our postcode is TA4 4BD.
Please choose ‘Halsway Manor - National Centre for Folk Arts’ in the dropdown list, as there is an unofficial pin which will take you to the wrong end of Halsway Lane.

what3words: our front door is located at sock.reefs.shins

There is free parking at the manor, with overflow parking in the water gardens (subject to weather). When you arrive, please park sensibly to maximise capacity. If you are booked into a garden cabin, please use the small car park opposite the driveway.

Vehicles and contents are left at owners’ own risk.

Car sharing

We invite you to consider car sharing if you can. We can’t help with such arrangements, and can’t give out contact or address details for other guests, but it’s often possible to find other attendees through course-relevant Facebook groups.

By public transport

Our closest railway station is Taunton, on both the Great Western and Cross Country trainlines. Trains from London take less than 2 hours, and trains from Birmingham take about 3 hours, both of which are well served from all areas of the country. Once you leave the station, you can complete your journey by bus/on foot or by taxi.

You can view timetables for the Number 28 bus, which runs between the manor and Taunton Station. The bus stop is on the opposite side of the main road, near the lane up to the manor which you will use to reach us on foot - it is a 5-minute walk. This is a single track lane, and is unlit, so we advise that you come prepared with light or reflective clothing during the winter months.

There are a number of local taxi companies, and we advise booking one in advance for the best price, rather than visiting the station taxi rank.

If you need some help planning your journey, door-to-door, why not try the Traveline Journey Planner? Simply enter your starting location and ‘Halsway Manor’ as your destination, and the date that you wish to travel, and the website will show you what public transport options are available to you.

Many of our midweek courses have free afternoons to enable you to make the most of our location - lots of places of interest are within easy reach, including Dunster Castle, NT Selworthy Village, the West Somerset Steam Railway, Hestercombe Gardens, and Coleridge Cottage. Exmoor and the West Somerset coast are just a short drive away. You’ll find a large map covering our local area in the back corridor at the Manor, but if you’re keen to explore on your own terms, you’ll find us on a copy of OS Landranger 118.

Natural history is in abundance, from prehistoric sites on the Quantocks to fossilised remains on the beach near Kilve. The area has also hosted many folk luminaries over the centuries – Cecil Sharp collected sea shanties down the road in Watchet, the folklorist Ruth Tongue lived on the side of hills up the valley (the ruins of her cottage can still be found by the adventurous) and William Winter, fiddle player and shoemaker, was living in West Bagborough when he noted down hundreds of fiddle tunes in the early 19th century.