reimagine the future
bivouac at druid's temple
Sustainable holiday
site in a breathtaking
Yorkshire location
Bivouac at Druid's Temple is a rustic-luxury holiday project in the Nidderdale area of outstanding natural beauty, in rural North Yorkshire.
Bivouac at Druid's Temple was incubated, designed and launched by Mantes in partnership with our friends at Box-head. By bringing together creative design, thoughtful planning and consideration for each aspect of the visitor's experience, we sought to create a facility which effortlessly connected guests with nature and each other.
Through the combination of good design along with healthy food and a warm-hearted welcome, we sought to create a magnetic and authentic experience which would draw visitors back time and again. Such efforts consistently earned the project high praise in the National Press and on review sites such as Trip Advisor.
Incubated, designed,
built and launched by
Mantes & partners
winner of
Multiple
prestigious
awards
Project capital cost of £800k raised via EU grant, equity and quasi equity
Bivouac at Druid's Temple was a complicated project to pull together and relied on the cooperation of multiple and varied stakeholders. The Bivouac Ltd (Mantes & Box-head) selected the development site, worked up detailed designs, prepared the business plan and investment plan, set up all brand and marketing materials, acquired planning permission, raised grant investment and reached agreement with the Swinton Estate for private equity investment. We then built, styled and managed the £800,000 facility, employing 30 local people and bringing thousands of visitors to the area each year.
After 18 months of hosting holidays, weddings, gig nights, mini-festivals and much more, The Bivouac Ltd transferred management of Bivouac at Druid's Temple to the Swinton Estate. Since transferring management of the project, the company has been rebranded to 'Swinton Bivouac' and operations have been aligned more closely with the Swinton Estate and their associated enterprises.
The site offers 94 bed spaces across 15 hand crafted accommodation units. Traditional Yorkshire barns were lovingly converted into a characterful cafe with mezzanine level and family dining area, shop and reception area, bunk barn and luxury amenity block.
Showcasing some of the most thoughtful sustainable design, the project picked up seven prestigious awards in the first 18 months of trading; including Welcome to Yorkshire’s award for the best holiday site in Yorkshire*. The café was selected by Yorkshire Tea for use in their photo-shoot and corporate marketing materials. Here are a few images.
Since transferring management, it is reasonable to expect that the website and other marketing materials for Swinton Bivouac become less reflective of our approach and ethos, especially as more time passes. With this in mind, we plan to provide a downloadable (PDF) portfolio showing the project at the point of transfer in much more detail. Watch this space.
For more information on the Bivouac Shacks, visit the project page.
See what our friends at Box-head have been up to.
Have a look at some of the things the National Press had to say about us.
During the establishment and running of the project, the Bivouac Blog was an important part of our communication strategy, when the business launched in April 2012, there were over 8,000 unique visitors per month to the website, much of which was driven by and to the Blog. Have a look if you'd like to read through the Blog.
*The Welcome to Yorkshire White Rose Award for the best Caravan Holiday Park & Holiday Village.
Click here to view the project portfolio, if you would like a version to print, request one here.
Beth and Sam are truly committed to the work that they carry out. The passion that they have for the projects they work on draws a great team of people to work alongside them. Their enthusiasm, ethics and ethos rubs off on others.
Beth has a wonderful ability to share her visions, making one feel entirely confident in her business decisions and plans. When helping plan our wedding, Beth was buzzing with ideas but realistic to our budget. Beth and Sam guided us through every stage of our wedding; nothing was too much for them.
Sam is extremely well organised, but also multi-talented and resourceful. It was a huge pleasure to work with Sam; he is practically minded but also a real 'people person'.
We were really impressed at how Beth and Sam were driven by sustainable and ethical values, and created a business that worked with local people and suppliers, in an environmentally conscious way. Sam and Beth are visionaries – they have the ability to turn their dreams into a reality.
Helen & Ali Brown
Wedding at The Bivouac