About Us

We’re a friendly, family-run business. Our family has farmed at Court Lodge for five generations, moving from dairy farming in the 1980s to a mixed farm currently. Over the past 20 years, we have converted our traditional hay barn into an events space, and our old farm courtyard into award-winning office units. The farm now operates from a modern yard beyond the house.

17th Century Barn

The Black Barn is a very special wedding and party venue that lies in the heart of the pretty village of Stansted in rolling North Kent downland. Surrounded by apple and cherry orchards, with grass kept short by our small flock of Shetland sheep, the barn opens on to a traditional English garden. It can feel as though you’ve stepped back in time in our hidden valley yet we are within easy reach of London, Sevenoaks and the Medway towns. We only run a small number of events each year to ensure you get an exclusive service in a location that feels like a well-kept secret.

Award-winning offices

The Court Lodge Centre is a completely refurbished courtyard development of former farm buildings. It consists of five comfortable office units with period features giving you the best of both worlds – beams and superfast broadband! The tranquil North Downs setting can be deceptive: we are only 25 miles from central London, with convenient access to the motorway network (M25, M26 and M20 within 10 minutes) and excellent rail links (including Ebbsfleet International).

Varied and accessible film location

Court Lodge Farm has a number of interesting buildings and varied landscapes that are ideal for filming and photo shoots. We are in the heart of the countryside yet only 25 miles from central London.

A few testimonials

  • Best wedding venue ever!

    “The barn was my dream venue and as we wanted a laid-back wedding the barn provided the perfect atmosphere. The garden was beautiful and has given us some lovely photos. The barn was so beautiful it hardly needed any decorations, I honestly cannot praise you or the barn enough!! It was absolutely amazing and we have already said that we would love to come back for our 10th anniversary to celebrate! In my opinion best wedding venue ever! 10/10!”

    Georgina & Aaron

  • Everything we could have wanted

    “The barn was an amazing reception venue and everything that we could have wanted. We liked being able to decorate the barn ourselves, we loved the beautiful, well-kept garden, we obviously loved the barn itself, we liked dealing with you and Harry who were very easy-going (but also very informative when we needed you to be). We liked being able to have a free bar and providing the drink ourselves as it helped us keep the cost down.”

    Nick & Rosie

  • A little hidden gem

    “We were after something quite low key, something personal we could make our own and something a bit different and more cosy and romantic than some of the other bigger venues out there. We found it through a lucky recommendation as it was not listed on the usual wedding sites but that made it feel like a little hidden gem.”

    Lauren & Ben

  • The perfect outdoor setting

    “We absolutely loved our wedding at Court Lodge. We found most of the wedding venues we visited were too formulaic. Court Lodge allowed us to be our own wedding planners and put our own personal touch to every part of our wedding reception. The garden looked absolutely beautiful and it gave us the perfect outdoor setting for our guests to sit and enjoy a glass of champagne in the sunshine.”

    Hayley & Ashley

  • The most beautiful venue

    “Thank you for all that you did to make our day such a wonderful success. Not only do you have the most beautiful venue, but you were supremely accommodating of our every need and hugely generous in lending us those little extras. Thank you so much for helping us make it such a special day that we will remember forever.”

    Georgie & Duncan

  • An absolute pleasure

    “We are so pleased we found the Court Lodge and so appreciative to you for being so lovely in all the planning weeks and allowing us the freedom to pull all our ideas together. All our guests loved the barn and your beautiful gardens. We will treasure all our memories of the day forever for so many reasons and we could not have asked for a more perfect venue – we loved it! It was an absolute pleasure to decorate and enjoy.”

    Jo & Jeremy

  • A unique venue

    “We wanted to thank you for allowing us to use your gorgeous barn for our wedding celebration. All of our guests were blown away by what a beautiful location it is and raved about the character and atmosphere it gave to the day. We feel really privileged to have had such a unique venue.”

    Amelia & James

  • Stunning barn

    “Thank you so much for allowing us to have our wedding reception in your stunning barn and for always being so accommodating. We had the most wonderful day! Thank you.”

    Emma & James

  • Brilliant location

    “We loved Court Lodge as a venue! The entire space is so naturally beautiful and the garden is so fantastic. You and Harry were so flexible with things and great at getting back to us. Being able to decorate it all on Friday was a real life-saver and made Saturday so relaxing. All our family and friends loved the space and the location close to the motorway and so many hotels was brilliant given many families were coming from afar.”

    Rachel & Alex

  • One of the best days of our lives

    “Having the freedom to have whatever food and alcohol we wanted and being able to decorate the place ourselves made the day feel so ours and really let us put our own personalities in to the day. We hands down had one of the best days of our lives and the venue played such a big part in that.”

    Rachel & Alex

  • Buckets of charm

    “Court Lodge had buckets of charm and lent itself perfectly to the DIY/relaxed feel we wanted for the day! Alice and Harry at Court Lodge were absolutely fantastic, really easy to work with and so helpful at answering questions in the run up to the big day. We had the whole of Friday to set up the barn exactly how we wanted it, so that Saturday morning was all about getting ready and relaxing.”

    Rachel & Alex

  • Our dream venue

    On the day your guests won't stop telling you how stunning the place is and asking how on earth you found it. It really was our dream venue and not only looked beautiful set out for the meal but was a great space for the evening and made for the most amazing pictures. There are a lot of venues out there but this one really is special!”

    Lauren & Ben