The 1,200-acre Dartington Hall estate is an award-winning destination in Devon which sits between Dartmoor National Park and the English Riviera coast.
From woodland walks and riverside trails to cafés, restaurants and shops, there is plenty to explore. We also host a year-round programme of art and craft activities, theatre, music and dance events as well as a wide selection of films at our celebrated independent Barn Cinema.
As a centre for learning for almost a century we have attracted a variety of leading artists and thinkers including potter Bernard Leach, composer Igor Stravinsky, cellist Jacqueline du Pre, musician Ravi Shankar, playwright Bernard Shaw and environmental activist Vandana Shiva.
The estate is home to the Dartington Hall Trust – an educational charity that supports learning in ecology, the arts, social enterprise and within the wider community. Our commercial activities support our charitable purpose.
Schumacher College, Dartington Arts School, Dartington School for Social Entrepreneurs and Research in Practice are based here. In addition, the estate is a hub for a number of like-minded enterprises and charities.
What we do
Our arts and cultural events attract audiences from around the world and encourage social change, learning and experimentation.
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Our estate, home to innovations in agriculture and architecture, is a place to build communities and the ecosystem that sustains them.
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Our legacy of progressive education continues to inform our learning programme: from craft courses and post-graduate studies for adults to schools’ programmes for children.
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We are home to 150+ businesses, practitioners, artists and organisations.
Respecting the rights of individuals is at the core of the original Dartington Experiment.
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We generate energy on the estate, produce our own food, use our own water – and much more.
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Our history: Meet the Elmhirsts
The Dartington Experiment began in 1925, when Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst bought a crumbling estate and began to explore how a place could change the world – attracting some of the greatest artists, educators and political philosophers of the 20th century in the process. Important British institutions – including the NHS and the Arts Council – emerged, and ground-breaking experiments in land use, farming and education took place.
The Elmhirsts understood that the world and its people are complex. There are many sides to every story and to every human being. We need environments that encourage our whole being to flourish, in connection with nature and each other.
Our people and governance
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Our team
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