Woolhanger Manor Wedding Photographer
Natural, documentary wedding photography by Patrick Newnham
Woolhanger Manor is an exclusive-use wedding venue on a four-thousand-acre estate in the heart of Exmoor, above Parracombe on the North Devon side of the moor, with the kind of privacy and panoramic views that only an estate that size can offer. The octagonal Music Room, added in 1894 by Sir Henry Carew for his wife’s love of music and dancing, is the ceremony room and one of the most unusual wedding rooms in the West Country; the semi-walled upper garden and its raised lawn look out over Exmoor and take a marquee for bigger weddings; there’s a hidden waterfall in the private gardens, the Riding Stables for grand celebrations, and rooms in the house for the wedding party. You bring your own caterers and your own drinks, with no corkage.
I haven’t photographed a wedding at Woolhanger yet. I live on the other side of the moor, forty minutes away by the road over Simonsbath, and I know this stretch of Exmoor well from engagement shoots on the coast and days spent walking it. It’s a venue I’d give a great deal to photograph: moorland light, a house with a story, and a garden with a view that goes on for twenty miles.
How I photograph a wedding
Documentary first. I don’t run the day or stage it; I pay attention to it, and I keep the formal part to ten minutes of group photographs and twenty minutes of portraits in the best light we can find. Natural light, no flash during ceremonies, and editing that will still look right in twenty years. I take a limited number of weddings a year, which is partly how I get to give each one my full attention.
Good to know about Woolhanger Manor
Size. Up to a hundred and twenty in the house and the Music Room, with marquee weddings on the upper lawn going bigger. Light. High ground and open views mean long evenings in summer and dramatic skies all year; the Exmoor weather moves fast, and so do I. Phone signal. Thin, as everywhere on the moor; timings are agreed beforehand. Travel. Forty minutes from me; the Exmoor page and the Barnstaple page cover the ground either side.
Taking a limited number of weddings for 2027 and 2028
If my way of working sounds like your kind of thing, I’d love to hear about your plans. Drop me a line with your date and venue and I’ll tell you straight away whether I’m free.
