55.23°N 2.58°W · Northumberland Dark Sky Park

Sleep where the sky still goes dark.

Three shepherd’s huts and a stone bothy on a working hill farm near Kielder, each with a wood-fired hot tub at the door. Book direct and see the whole price before you start.

VisitEngland 5-star GlampingQuality assured (demo)
Inside a Dark Sky ParkNorthumberland International
Green Tourism GoldSustainable stays (demo)
4.91 from 11 reviewsEvery review is shown

The four places

Four places to sleep, one sky.

Each stands on its own patch of the hill, out of sight of the others and facing the dark. Every one has a wood-fired hot tub, a wood-burner and a bed made up with proper linen.

Curlew hut

SLEEPS 2 · FROM £135

A king bed under the curve of the roof, a big window facing the burn and the south, and a hot tub on its own terrace. The one to book for a first visit.

See the curlew hut

Merlin hut

SLEEPS 2 AND A DOG · FROM £145

The only hut that takes a dog, with its own fenced paddock, a bowl and a towel by the door. It faces east, so you see the sun come over the moor.

See the merlin hut

Whaup hut

SLEEPS 2 AND A CHILD · FROM £155

A double bed and a proper bunk for one child, tucked behind a curtain. The best hut for a child’s first Milky Way.

See the whaup hut

The Bothy

SLEEPS 4 · FROM £210

Our old stone shelter, rebuilt with two double bedrooms, a kitchen and a wood-burner you can feed from the sofa. Big tub, big table, room for four.

See the Bothy

One night at Blackcleugh

From the last of the light to the Milky Way

16:00
Arrive. The stove is laid and the kettle is full.
Check-in is from 3pm. The key is on a hook by the door. Logs, kindling and matches are in the store, and we will have walked the track that morning to make sure it is clear.
18:30
Light the tub, then wait.
It is wood-fired, so it takes about two hours to reach 38°C. Logs are included. Sit out with a drink while it heats. On spring and summer evenings the curlews call across the moor.
22:00
Switch off every light.
Red torches hang by the door. Give your eyes fifteen minutes and the sky fills in. The nearest street light is miles away, and the stars are everywhere, right down to the hills.
02:30
Stay up for the Milky Way.
On a clear night it arches overhead. In winter it is Orion and the Pleiades; in August, shooting stars. Wrap up. The tub is still warm, and the wood-burner will see you through to morning.

Book direct

Same hut, same night, less to pay.

Many of our guests found us on a booking platform first. Platforms add a service fee of around 15% to the guest. We do not, and we show the total before you type a single detail.

Total price shown up front, including VAT, logs, linen, towels and cleaning
25% deposit now, the balance six weeks before you arrive
Talk to the people who will meet you at the gate

Check your dates

An example stay

Curlew hut, Friday 6 to Sunday 8 November 2026

2 × weekend night (Fri, Sat), £165£330
Hot-tub logs, linen, towels, cleaningIncluded
VAT at 20%Included
Total, direct£330

Booking direct, you save about £50 compared with a 15% platform service fee on the same stay.

Reviews

Every review, including the four-star one.

4.91from 11 stays since we opened in April 2026

We came for the stars and they delivered, but it was the little things: the stove already laid, the tub logs split, a note about where the curlews nest. Booked again before we left.

Hannah and Dev, Leeds
September 2026

Lovely hut and a brilliant sky. Four stars because it clouded over both nights, which is nobody’s fault, and the track is bumpy for a low car. They had warned us about the track, so no surprises.

Jo, Newcastle
August 2026

No light pollution at all. Lay in the field with the lights off and watched the Milky Way for an hour. The best price I could find was on their own site.

Marc, Edinburgh
September 2026

Read the other 8 reviews

Long drive from London and worth every mile. The tub took about two hours to heat, exactly as they said, so we lit it as soon as we arrived.

Priya and Tom, London
August 2026

Took our spaniel to Merlin. Towels, a paddock, and the farm collie came to say hello. Very easy.

Sam and Imogen, York
July 2026

The Bothy for my 40th with three friends. Warm, roomy, plenty of logs. The kitchen has proper pans.

Rebecca, Harrogate
July 2026

We came in June and were told honestly that it never gets fully dark at midsummer. We loved the long light and the curlews, and have booked October for the stars.

Callum and Beth, Glasgow
June 2026

Whaup with our five year old. The bunk curtain was a hit. Not a screen in sight.

Aisha and Rob, Manchester
June 2026

Spotless, quiet, and the farmer knows the sky better than most astronomers.

Neil, Carlisle
May 2026

Found them elsewhere, booked direct, and the total on the page was the total we paid. Refreshing.

Laura and Chris, Sheffield
May 2026

Opening week and already faultless. Snow showers, tub lit, flakes falling into the steam. Unforgettable.

Fiona, Dundee
April 2026

The farm

A hill farm first, a place to stay second.

Blackcleugh has been in the Charlton family for four generations. Tom and Ellen run Cheviot-cross ewes on 600 acres of in-bye and moor, and built the huts in 2025 on the poorest grass, so the farm lost nothing and gained a reason to carry on.

The huts were fitted out by a joiner down the valley. The tub logs are birch off-cuts from a local sawmill. The farm eggs in your fridge are from the hens by the yard.

600acres of hill farm

1h 30from Newcastle by car

4places to stay, never more

Heather moorland rolling away to blue hills, with a small tarn in the distance — The moor above the farm

Close-up of pale purple heather in flower — Heather, late August

A wood fire burning at dusk against a pink and grey sky

Sit out until the fire is down to embers. Then look up.

Sleep where the sky still goes dark.

Four places to sleep, one sky.

Curlew hut

Merlin hut

Whaup hut

The Bothy

From the last of the light to the Milky Way

Arrive. The stove is laid and the kettle is full.

Light the tub, then wait.

Switch off every light.

Stay up for the Milky Way.

Same hut, same night, less to pay.

Curlew hut, Friday 6 to Sunday 8 November 2026

Every review, including the four-star one.

A hill farm first, a place to stay second.

Book the hut. Leave the sky to us.