The Great Barn Devon Wedding Photographer
The Great Barn sits on a private estate of 120 acres in the Devon village of Higher Ashton, south-west of Exeter. The barn itself is a handsome thing: stone walls, a thatched roof, big oak doors, somehow rustic and luxurious at the same time. I’ve photographed weddings here and it’s a venue that lets a day breathe.
Why I love photographing weddings at The Great Barn
Space and light. Gardens for the drinks and the lawn games, grounds for a few quiet minutes of portraits without losing sight of your guests, and a barn that looks as good with white linen and hessian as it does lit by festoon and a fire pit after dark. Add St James’s Church in Christow a few minutes away for a traditional ceremony and you have the whole day within one small corner of Devon.
The spaces, and how they photograph
- St James’s Church, Christow. A Grade I listed medieval church, rich in history and very photogenic, if you want the church-then-barn day.
- The gardens. Drinks, limbo, hook-a-duck, giant Jenga, and the candid photographs that come from all of that.
- Outside the barn. The natural spot for group shots.
- Inside the barn. Wedding breakfasts, sharing platters, speeches. Dressed in wood and hessian it’s a rustic dream; dressed white it’s elegant.
- After dark. Festoon lights, a fire pit with marshmallows, pizza from a van. Lovely atmosphere, lovely photographs.
Emma and Alex at The Great Barn
A late-summer wedding: a Morris Minor van for the bride, a medieval church in Christow with flowers arranged by Emma’s mum, duck-egg bridesmaids, herringbone three-pieces for the boys, a sharing-style Italian feast, and a three-tier cake of limoncello, espresso martini and amaretto that didn’t survive the night. “He made sure to get all the classic shots but was also really busy capturing the feel of the day,” they said afterwards, which is about the nicest review a documentary photographer can get.
Questions couples ask me about The Great Barn
Have you photographed at The Great Barn before? Yes, several times.
Do you cover Devon? Yes, regularly, from Exmoor down to the south coast.
Do you offer an engagement shoot? Yes, included.
Taking a limited number of weddings for 2027 and 2028
If you’re getting married here and 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 I’ll tell you straight away whether I’m free.
