Oaksbrook Retreat

When the need to recharge your own batteries overtakes the need to charge your mobile phone, we’d suggest a retreat in nature. Go somewhere green, spend time in the great outdoors, learn from the natural world — and breathe. You can do all that at the off-grid and adults-only Oaksbrook Retreat in Essex, where a couple of comfortable hideaways are tucked on a 20-acre smallholding, an hour outside of London.

A single shepherd’s hut and, in the summer, a lotus belle tent share a woodland meadow here on Jane and Steve Gilbey’s much-loved land. It’s a neat and sweet place to retreat to with Steve having built much of what you see and Jane offering a range of complementary therapies on site. Not to mention the fact that you can actually charge a mobile phone (if you really want to).

This is comfortable glamping with each accommodation offering everything you need in a pared-back way that suits the natural surroundings. There are solar panels and battery packs for power and there are waterless composting loos but there are also comfy made-up beds. The shepherd’s hut is particularly well-equipped with en-suite facilities, a kitchenette and a log-burner as befits a year-round place to stay, while the lotus belle tent offers an experience that’s closer to camping. Both have plenty of outdoor space, a fire pit for evenings under the stars and enough privacy for two separate pairs — but can work equally well if hired by two couples who want to holiday together.

The site is handily close to the A12, which can mean a little road noise can drift in on the wind (though you won’t notice that in the hut) but it also means the site is easily accessible and easy to explore from. By car, the bird-rich Blackwater Estuary, Abberton Reservoir and Markshall Arboretum offer nearby places to get further into nature but you don’t need to go that far. There are horses, chickens and sheep on-site and nearby woods to walk in. The Essex villages of Messing and Tiptree are also a stroll away and home to pubs and tearooms where you can find the treats of this lovely retreat.