Fell Byre

Fell Byre

A stone cattle byre above Balmaclellan, rebuilt for two to four people. Wood stove, deep windows, and a hillside that goes properly dark at night.

Check dates Look inside

Book with us, not through a platform

Booking sites add a service fee of around 14% to your total. Come to us directly and that fee simply isn't there. Same byre, same dates, same key under the same stone.

Based on our standard nightly rate of £145. Short breaks from two nights, all year.

Four nights at £145£580
Platform service fee£81
You pay£580

That's £81 you keep by booking direct.

Built for cattle in 1840, rebuilt for people in 2019

The walls are the original whinstone, two feet thick, so it stays cool through August and holds the stove's heat well past midnight. We kept the cart opening at the gable end and glazed it — that's the window you'll end up sitting in.

There's no television. There is a decent kitchen, a bath with a view of the hill, four hundred books that came with the house, and a drying room that will earn its keep if you walk in Galloway weather.

4Sleeps four
2Bedrooms
DogsTwo welcome
12 minTo New Galloway
StoveLogs included

Inside the byre

Twelve photographs — drag, swipe or use the arrows

The byre from the track, with the hill behind it

01 / 12

Tap any photograph to open it full screen.

The Glenkens

Galloway is the quietest corner of southern Scotland, and the least written about. That is the entire point of it.

Galloway Forest Park

Pine forest in Galloway Forest Park

25 minutes

The UK's first Dark Sky Park. On a clear moonless night you can see the Milky Way from the doorstep, but the observatory at Scaur is worth the drive.

Kirkcudbright

The harbour at Kirkcudbright

35 minutes

A harbour town that has been full of painters since the 1880s. Galleries, a good bookshop, and the best fish you'll eat this side of the Solway.

Loch Ken

Loch Ken on a still morning

10 minutes

Nine miles of water for paddling, sailing and osprey-watching. Kayaks can be delivered to the shore if you ask when you book.

The Southern Upland Way

The path along the ridge above the byre

From the gate

The coast-to-coast path runs along the ridge above the byre. Walk an hour up for the view, or a fortnight east for Cockburnspath.

We booked three nights, moved things around at work, and stayed eight.
Ruth and Danny M., Newcastle — October
The stove was already lit when we arrived. Nobody has ever done that for us.
Priya S., Manchester — February
Our two collies have never slept so well. Neither have we.
The Wilsons, Ayr — May

Arriving and leaving

Check in
From 4pm
Check out
By 10am
Changeover
Fridays
Minimum stay
Two nights

Late arrivals are fine. The key is in the porch and we'll text you where.

Finding us

Fell Byre, Balmaclellan
Castle Douglas
Dumfries & Galloway DG7

Get directions

01644 000000

Check your dates

Tell us when you'd like to come. We answer every enquiry ourselves, usually the same evening, and we'll hold dates for up to 12 hours while you decide.