At Woodsell, we’re developing the Learning Lab a place where people of all ages can explore ecology, design, and regenerative systems through hands-on, place-based learning. The Lab is growing around two key spaces: The Bull Pen, our restored timber-frame barn for indoor learning, and The Field Lab, a developing outdoor classroom dedicated to growing and ecological restoration.
Our seasonal workshops will run alongside the Woodsell Rewilding Project, offering opportunities to reconnect with the land as we actively restore biodiversity.
The Bull Pen will host workshops, creative residencies, and well-being activities such as yoga and meditation, all exploring regenerative design, heritage craft, and natural material systems. We use a wide range of materials harvested on-site, including local coppiced timber, clay, plant fibres, and dyes as teaching materials, grounding creative practice in the natural resources of the land.
The Field Lab is our outdoor space where we are establishing a food, fibre, and forest garden designed using permaculture principles. Here, plants for dyes, fibres, food, and medicine grow alongside composting systems demonstrating how everything returns to the soil. This space actively provides the living material for workshops in natural dyeing, spinning, weaving, and land-based crafts hosted in The Bull Pen.
All our buildings are powered by solar energy and water harvested on-site, reflecting our commitment to circular, low-impact living.
At this early stage, we’re laying the groundwork: restoring habitats, building infrastructure, and forming partnerships. Over time, we aim to welcome students, educators, researchers, designers, and communities for immersive, place-based learning experiences that reconnect people with land, materials, and craft traditions.
For more information, please contact francesca@woodsell.org
Just an hour’s drive from London and less than half an hour from Maidstone, Ashford and Canterbury, it is an easy journey to visit our nature retreats. The farm will offer a quiet space to relax and enjoy the countryside. The site offers dark skies and little noise pollution and gives visitors a chance to relax and become immersed in nature.