Welcome
Dartington Trust is a centre for progressive learning in arts, ecology and social justice based on a 1,200 acre campus near Totnes.
What’s On
For the latest news on dining, getaways, plus our gardens, shops and much beside, head to our Visit section.
Below are some selected highlights from our programme. For our full calendar of events, click here >
short courses for 2022
New year, new you: explore a huge range of exciting learning opportunities in ecology, craft, viticulture, the arts, and more.
coming up at the barn cinema
Choose from a packed lineup across a broad range of genres, including Kenneth Branagh’s much-anticipated Belfast.
a unique university experience
Application deadline: 26 Jan
Our Regenerative Food and Farming BSc is an undergraduate course that is ecological and hands-on – giving you a superb grounding in modern-day farming.
Learning at Dartington
We offer transformative learning, at undergraduate and postgraduate level, delivered by world-class tutors in a truly unique campus experience.
Our learning is delivered through two faculties: Schumacher College, which has been at the forefront of engaging ecological, economic, and social challenges for over 30 years, and Dartington Arts School, which draws on our rich international heritage and our wealth of dance, theatre, music and art studios to deliver compelling courses for a fast-changing world.
We offer a variety of opportunities for part-time learning, with courses ranging from a few hours, to weekly classes, to longer residential experiences.
Schumacher College delivers a unique brand of small-group, residential experiences which embrace themes of ecology, wellbeing, and sustainability. Our programme of arts courses spans music, performance, writing, dance, and contemporary visual art. And a wide, exciting range of craft courses run year-round in collaboration with over 50 makers from across the south west and beyond.
A variety of other programmes run throughout the year – including four weeks of shared music making, learning and listening at our renowned Dartington Music Summer School & Festival.
Learning is the beating heart of our year-round programme of events, which spans genres from film to craft to exhibitions.
We programme a blend of virtual and in-person events, many of which are free or by donation. Throughout the year, you’ll also find festivals that focus on themes of arts, ecology and social justice.
Learning at Dartington is mainly delivered through the courses and events we offer year-round, but a range of resources are also available online to help get a flavour of what we offer.
Schumacher College has an wide range of talks and interviews available on their YouTube channel, and our long-running online Earth Talk series is also available in full to watch online.
You can read the latest learning-related news here, and explore the history of the estate online here.
Other resources include our Arts and Learning podcast channel, which includes playlists such as our Laser Talks – inspired by the school climate strikes, Dark Mountain and Extinction Rebellion.
Latest news & blogs
Thriving together at the Oxford Real Farming Conference
Last week the ORFC brought together thousands to discuss ecological approaches to farming and food production, including many of us at Schumacher College.
Planning our growing spaces for 2022
Find out from our Head Gardener, Colum Pawson, how he goes about planning what to grow next season and where.
Join us at Dartington’s Music Summer School & Festival in 2022
We’ve been hard at work behind the scenes putting together a vibrant programme for our 2022 event, and this week marks the launch of our courses which are now open for you to browse and book.
celebrating 30 years of schumacher college
A programme of events and initiatives to mark 30 years of leading the way in transformative education – spearheaded by our Bursary Campaign, which aims to equip the next generation with the tools to address the social, environmental and economic challenges we all face.
Follow us
Follow Dartington Hall’s social media exploits for regular updates on all our events and activity
Calling all veg growers (or wannabe veg growers!), with gardens large, small, and everywhere in between. Do you want to learn about garden planning and design, crop rotation, which tasks to do by season in your garden, compost-making, and more?
We're thrilled to announce that our popular Sustainable Growing online course is back this year, running from March - August, and you can enrol online now via our website - dartington.org/shortcourses - or check out the "Short courses" button via the link in our bio.
This is a really special, hands-on interactive course with live video and photo content, community, support, and regular Zoom sessions with our Head Gardener.
Here's what a participant from 2020's course said about the experience: "This is my first year ever of vegetable growing and I have been totally amazed by what I have achieved. This course has definitely taught me so much in such a short period of time and even friends and family are asking me questions about their own veg growing. So the influence goes even further than the members of the course."
#schumachercollege #dartington #vegetablegarden #growers #vegetablegardening #eatyourveggies #eatyourgreens #growyourownfood
The Barn Cinema is proud to present Sonita Gale’s award-winning documentary, an uncomfortable and necessary exploration into the UK government’s treatment of some of the most marginalised and vulnerable members of its society.
www.dartington.org/hostile-12a
Gale’s documentary uncovers the fragility of immigrant living, which lies in outrageous antithesis to the reliance the UK places on immigration workers, many of whom were forced into destitution by unrelenting refusals of support from the government during the pandemic. Hostile explores the historic alienation of the globally precarious and the vulnerable, backed up by poignant lyrics from @georgethepoet.
Directed by Sonita Gale and executive-produced by award-winning musician @nitinsawhney, Hostile is a powerfully executed directorial debut. It explores the pain of what it means to say that somewhere is your home, only to be told in response that no, it is not.
www.dartington.org/hostile-12a
This film is the first in the Barn's "Reflect" season of films that reflect on, and ask questions about the biggest social justices issues facing currently facing us. Look out for a Reflect film in ever month's programme January- September 2022.
#hostiledocumentary #hostiledoc
👏 Excellent to see learning by doing in practice - with some of our new MSc Regenerative Food and Farming students out in Henri’s Field today for a session on coppicing.
Our next Regenerative Farming intake will be this September on the new undergrad programme in the same subject. The UCAS application deadline for equal consideration is 26 January so if you’d like to take a full three year degree, now’s the time to apply! Bursaries available. Contract admissions@dartington.org for more details.
📷 Colum Pawson
#regenerativefarming #regenerativeagriculture #dartington #schumachercollege
It was a pleasure to welcome TV presenter Fern Britton, @twofourtv and the Watercolour Challenge contestants to the estate last April. We cannot wait to see how they got on painting the Gardens and High Cross House.
Tune into @channel5 at 4pm today and this Friday 21st Jan to see the results! #watercolourchallenge #fernbritton