Welcome
Dartington Trust is a centre for learning, arts, ecology and social justice based on a 1,200 acre estate near Totnes.
What’s On
National Lockdown: We fully recognise the importance of continued access to nature for the local community during this difficult time. Therefore, our estate grounds remain open to the public for daily exercise purposes.
Apart from The Green Table (which remains open 10am-4pm for takeaways only), all other areas of the estate and our businesses are closed, and much of our events calendar has moved online.
Sustainable Growing: online course
Starts 1 Mar: Following a hugely popular debut, our interactive online course returns for a second year! Transform your garden or allotment with Schumacher College head gardener Colum Pawson.
MA Arts and Place
Develop your personal and collaborative art practice through an expanded understanding of place with this new course starting April 2021. We’ve reopened for applications.
new: river dart cabin
Open for 2021 bookings: Rustic, isolated and deeply romantic, this repurposed fisherman’s cabin located right on the bank of the River Dart will make adventurers’ hearts sing.
MA Movement, Mind and Ecology
We’re excited to announce a new programme at Schumacher College starting July 2021, exploring eco-philosophical approaches to outdoor activity. Register your interest!
camp dartington: 2021 season
Beat those lockdown blues – look ahead to spring and summer and treat your family to a getaway at our gorgeous campsite.
Learning at Dartington
We offer transformative learning delivered by world-class tutors in a truly unique campus experience. If you’re a new student looking for information and resources to support your study, please visit our Resources for Students.
For nearly 30 years, Schumacher College has been at the forefront of engaging ecological, economic, and social challenges, with our portfolio today including our first ever undergraduate programme.
And new for 2020, Dartington Arts School draws on our rich international heritage and our wealth of dance, theatre, music and art studios to provide a dynamic and responsive context for contemporary postgraduate study.
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 wellbeing and sustainability. Courses take place in the classroom, gardens and kitchen, and range from a weekend to three weeks.
Curating programmes across music, performance, writing, dance and contemporary visual art, our new programme of arts courses aim to animate our rural space with global perspective and profound experiences. They beautifully complement our exisiting Craft Revolution programme 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.
Due to the coronavirus crisis, much of our events programme (including our Barn Cinema) is taking a break. Instead, we’re running a virtual programme, which includes the first ever online editions of our long-running Earth Talks.
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 you can read student essays and dissertations on their website. Our 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
Interview with Dr Tine Bech, MA Arts and Place Senior Lecturer
We catch up with Dr Tine Bech, internationally recognised artist and new Senior Lecturer on the MA Arts and Place programme at Dartington Arts School.
In praise of soils: World Soil Day
Happy World Soil Day! Our Conservation and Land Manager writes on the importance of soil, plus watch a special video message from the Head Gardener at Schumacher College.
Food in Community report massive surge in demand
A group based on the Dartington estate has provided the equivalent of around 125,000 meals for people on low incomes since lockdown began in March.
Follow us
Follow Dartington Hall’s social media exploits for regular updates on all our events and activity
Get your pens and brushes at the ready for these two new online arts courses starting in February: 🖋 Join bestselling writer and naturalist, Anna Selby for three in-depth poetry writing classes, exploring themes of intimacy, life, and nature. Ideal for sharing your poetry with fellow writers during this period of isolation. Starts 20th Feb. www.dartington.org/event/online-poetry-with-anna-selby 🎨 Dartington-based artist, Anthony Garratt, follows up his hugely popular November online classes with this new course teaching you the fundamentals of painting with easy to follow instruction, discussion of famous paintings, and demonstrations live from Antony’s studio. Starts 13th Feb. www.dartington.org/event/online-painting-with-anthony-garratt/ Links also available via bio on our profile page (arts short courses) @_anthony_garratt_ @thenaturetable @dartingtonarts @thecraftrevolution #poetsofinstagram #poetryclass #artistsoninstagram #artclass #onlinelearning #lockdown2021 #writersgonnawrite #paintersgonnapaint #makersgonnamake #creativelifehappylife #dartingtonhall #dartingtonartsschool #totnes #devon
You don't have to walk far before coming across a Robin in the gardens at Dartington. But did you know that one of the most influential books on the species, David Lack's "The Life of the Robin" was written here and based on surveys taken across the Dartington estate? David Lack taught biology at Dartington Hall School from 1933-39. He first began colour-ringing robins in order to amuse his pupils, but it was not long before he was spending all his free time and holidays watching robins at Dartington and making notes. Many of the staff and pupils of the school conducted surveys, trapped and ringed birds and constructed aviaries to help Lack in his research. Today the pioneering spirit of Lack and others lives on, not least in the work go on here in teach and exploring new approaches to ecology. Schumacher College's MA in Engaged Ecology, starting this April, gives a good insight into the kinds of things we are interested in today. Click the Schumacher College link in our bio to explore. 📸Alison Heatherington #robin #robinredbreast #robinsofinstagram #birds #dartington #ecology
Fantastic news - our head gardener at @schumachercollege @columpawson is running his brilliant online growing course again this year! 'Sustainable Growing' was a massive hit on debut and maybe this time it'll be you transforming your approach to gardening. One participant last year told us: “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”. Sound good? Check our dartington.org homepage for details. #horticulture #nodig #nodiggarderning #growing
The deer park at Dartington 🦌 #deer #deerofinstagram #dartington #devon #totnes