AMAZING MEMORIES & NEW BEGINNINGS

For many years, we've been making couples' dreams come true at South Elmham – now it’s our turn.
This is goodbye. Our wedding journey is over and we have hung up our wedding hats for the final time.  Bateman's Barn will no longer be hosting weddings – a new adventure beckons. As custodians of this amazingly diverse, heritage landscape, we'll be dedicating 100% of our energy to giving things back - to nature. 

Everything has always belonged together at South Elmham. It’s an ancient place with wildlife-rich and tangibly timeless landscapes. All those who live and love here treasure each other’s company. And few hold it more dear than those who, feeling that special connection, called it home for their wedding celebrations.

It has been a true joy and very much within the spirit of this historic place to have played such a pivotal part in the lives of so many. But it’s not just our wedding couples which have gone hand in hand here – sharing South Elmham has been fundamental on our journey towards giving the place a sustainable future. It is our passion to love the landscape - and all that it represents - back to life, and we are hugely excited.

Heart-felt thanks

We're not ones for Oscar-style speeches, but so many awesome and inspiring people have been part of the Bateman's Barn weddings community - these very special connections which have made everything possible simply can't go unsung. Like the memories of each and every wedding our little island venue has had the privilege to host, the invaluable support and friendship of our local team, catering colleagues and amazing network of suppliers will never be forgotten...        

To all those who helped share the love 

Thank you to all who have believed in us and bought into our vision over these fantastically fun years.

That includes every member of the Waveney Valley Collective which we forged - the 'locals we love' - who have been part of sharing the experiences and tastes, expertise and love unique to this wonderful area of Suffolk and Norfolk. Your support to us has been invaluable, and the memories you have created for wedding guests and couples were just magical.    

To David and all the staff at Lowestoft Registry Service; to Nick and his team at Funnells Kitchen, our superbly versatile and talented caterer team; to Lindsay Want at Xtrahead for creative inspiration, beautiful words and digital hand-holding, and to all our own crew and support team here at South Elmham, thank you for going above and beyond - you have been amazing.

We treasure these friendships and appreciate their good wishes and understanding around our journey to enable change for the better at South Elmham - for the flora, fauna, the planet and generations to come.   

A bright new chapter for South Elmham

Any Bateman's Barn bridal party, whisked away into our fields by their wedding photographer or led by the hand (and Nicole) to gather armfuls of colourful wild flowers for their guest tables, will surely never forget all the natural beauty of this ancient, rolling Waveney Valley countryside.

South Elmham Hall Farm has well over 30 years of countryside stewardship through award-winning conservation schemes to its name. For decades organic farming practices and livestock across many of the 450 biodiverse acres were setting the scene for these traditional farmlands to find their own way back to nature. It's now time for us to give it an extra helping hand.

We have had our last harvest, leaving the land to regenerate practically without intervention, supporting its biodiversity by reinstating 'ghost' ponds and allowing livestock to graze naturally.       

These real and alive landscapes we now 'manage' are ancient ones. Swathes have somehow dodged the ploughs of ‘progress’ and remained original and remarkably intact, tracing field and estate boundaries which date to those early bishops who resided here.

With our time freed up from running Bateman's Barn, we now have the privilege and opportunity to restore and safeguard our little corner of Suffolk and its wildlife. We are already working with experts from the academic world across a wide range of biodiversity topics and will be sharing an online journal of our work and its impact in the near future.

Just like supporting couples through the journey to their wedding day, making Wild South Elmham a reality is already proving an honour, full of surprises and and so very rewardingly full of joy.

John & Nicole Sanderson

September 2025