by sarah • July 10, 2022 • Wedding Planning Guides
Surrounded by beautiful scenery and rolling hills, we never take the incredible countryside we live in for granted and work hard to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
We know that anyone who is looking for a wedding venue in the countryside is likely to feel the same as us. That’s why we do everything we can to take care of the environment we live in, and why we’re proud to be one of the most eco-friendly, greenest wedding venues in the region. We’re transforming our energy uses every day, and striving to eliminate our carbon footprint.
We’ve been recycling here at Heaton House Farm for decades. We were one of the first places in the area to set up our own recycling station on-site and commission our own recycling companies to collect full skips (and stop wasting fuel on half full bins!). We separate everything, and even use external companies like Refood to recycle all waste food. In case you were wondering, it gets sent to an Anaerobic Digest to produce methane gas, which in turn powers generators and adds electricity to the National Grid!
Our barn roofs were also one of the first places in the region to host solar panels, with 125 installed by 2011, and 250 generating up to 60kwh of energy every day now. To take advantage of this green energy, we have low energy LED lamps, and a specialist insulated water storage unit; it heats water with surplus solar power, and stores it for our guests to use later. In 2014, we rebuilt the old horse and cart barn, and installed a brand new biomass burner to supply heat to the whole farm – it uses waste from our agricultural work and sustainable woodland to heat and light our whole venue.
Our changes to the way we operate reduces our reliance on overseas fossil fuels like oil, and cuts our carbon footprint dramatically. Eliminating it completely is a big goal for us at Heaton House Farm. With all our facilities in one single place, from ceremony options right through to overnight accommodation, our wedding guests don’t need to travel around the area. Not only does that make for a much smoother, easier wedding day, it cuts exhaust emissions. Our other commitments include:
With such large grounds, wildlife is in abundance at Heaton House Farm, and we’re doing everything we can to protect it now for future generations. From bird feeders in the water gardens to cordoned off fields to protect nesting chicks, all the staff here love the local animals. We’re often watching out for owls at night time, helping out with the sheep during lambing season and rescuing hedgehogs. If you want to see our beautiful countryside and the local wildlife, you’ll have to come visit and look around.
