BEECH Hill Community near Crediton recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, and is still going strong after four decades as a centre for communal living.

The community is based at a large former manor house at Morchard Bishop, and has around six acres of land. It is home to 23 people, ranging in age from three months to 82.

The main aim of the community is to provide affordable accommodation where people can live in harmony and co-operate, as well as sharing the buildings and land.

All residents have their own private space, whether bought or rented, and there is a shared kitchen, living rooms and a large garden.

The buildings and land are owned by Beech Hill Property Holdings, a company set up by residents, while the main decision-making body is a fully mutual housing co-operative, Beech Hill Community Co-op.

All adult residents are Co-op members and meet together each week. Decisions are made by consensus, whilst some are delegated to sub-groups for Gardens, Maintenance, Admin and Finance, Outreach, Sustainability and Well-being.

There are a few other Beech Hill residents who bought smaller leasehold properties on the site; they live as neighbours, but are not Co-op members.

A key focus of the community is to care for the environment by generating renewable energy, recycling waste and growing food organically. The community has a solar array, a wind turbine, a log boiler, a reed bed sewage system and several compost loos.

Whilst not totally self-sufficient, the community aims to grow as much of its own food as possible. It has an old Victorian walled garden, another vegetable garden, an orchard, a greenhouse and two polytunnels. Most residents eat together in the shared kitchen.

Costs to live at Beech Hill are kept low, with rents being determined mainly by the size of the accommodation. Residents also contribute £21 a week towards a food pool as well as £17 per week to cover utility bills and other household costs.

The community hosts two volunteer groups a year. The volunteers attend from all round the world and provide work in exchange for food and accommodation during their two-week stay.

Beech Hill also hosts regular Community Experience Weekends, where visitors can sample communal living and, at the same time, learn a specific skill.

At the last such weekend the focus was on making sourdough bread. Prospective new members are expected to attend two such weekends and attend for a two-week stay as part of the joining process.

Course groups can also rent a large workroom and have access to a separate kitchen in the main house. In the warmer months, they can camp in the paddock, where there is a camp kitchen, solar showers, compost loos and a firepit.

This camping area is also used by hikers - the Two Moors Way goes right past the property. There is also an outdoor swimming pool on site.

Residents have strong links with the wider community in the village, and are active in the local sustainability group. Two former residents run the thriving village shop.

Individuals at Beech Hill earn income in the wider world, for example in consultancy, life coaching, therapy, writing and illustration, building and retail work, while several are retired.

Beech Hill has a long history, and was at one time the manor house for the area, with 200 acres of land and a retinue of servants.

Most of the land was sold off for farming over the years. For two years, in the early 1980s, it became a centre for the Rajneesh spiritual community before being sold to a group of teachers, social workers and others keen to try communal living.

They set up Windfall Housing Co-op, which was superseded by Beech Hill Community in the 1990s. None of the original members still live at the site, although some residents have been at Beech Hill for more than 30 years. The community currently has space for new members.

• More information about Beech Hill can be found at https://www.beechhillcommunity.org/ or on Facebook or Instagram or email [email protected]. To enquire about renting space for course groups or camping, email: [email protected]