Venue hire
Terms and conditions of hire
These terms apply to every wedding and event at Haylands Barn. They form part of your contract with us, so please read them before you pay your deposit. If anything is unclear, ask us. We would rather talk it through now than on the day.
Version 1 · 26 October 2026 · W Godman-Dorington, trading as Haylands Barn
1Who we are and what words mean
1.1Haylands Barn is run by W Godman-Dorington, a farming business at Haylands Farm, Graffham, Petworth, West Sussex, GU28 0NU. In these terms "we", "us" and "our" mean W Godman-Dorington trading as Haylands Barn.
1.2"You" and "your" mean the person or people named on the booking confirmation. Where two of you book together, each of you is responsible for the whole of this contract, including payment.
1.3"The event" means the wedding or other event described on your booking confirmation. "The hire period" runs from 8am on the Friday before your event to 11am on the Sunday after it, unless your booking confirmation says otherwise.
1.4"The hire fee" is the venue hire charge on your booking confirmation. "The ceremony fee" is our charge for holding your legal ceremony at the barn. "The damage deposit" is the refundable sum described in section 4.
1.5"Suppliers" means anyone you engage to provide goods or services for your event, including caterers, bar operators, furniture and toilet hire companies, florists, photographers, musicians and entertainers.
1.6We are not registered for VAT, and no VAT is charged on our fees.
1.7These terms and your booking confirmation form the whole agreement between us. Our pricing guide and brochure describe the venue but do not form part of the contract. If these terms and your booking confirmation conflict, the booking confirmation applies.
2Booking
2.1Enquiries and viewings do not reserve a date. Once we have agreed a date with you, we hold it provisionally for 14 days from our written confirmation. If we have not received your deposit by then, we may release the date without further notice.
2.2Your booking is confirmed, and a binding contract is formed, when we have received your deposit and your written acceptance of these terms. We will then send you a booking confirmation setting out your date, your fees and your payment schedule.
2.3Because your booking is for a specific date, the 14-day cancellation right under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 does not apply. Section 5 sets out what happens if you cancel.
2.4The booking is personal to you. You may not transfer it to anyone else, sublet the barn or use it for a different kind of event without our written agreement.
2.5Haylands Barn is available for weddings, private celebrations and selected corporate events. We do not host 18th or 21st birthday parties.
3Prices and payment
3.1Your hire fee and ceremony fee are fixed when you book and will not change, whatever the year of your event.
3.2The deposit is 50% of the hire fee and is payable to confirm your booking. It counts towards the hire fee and is not refundable, except as set out in section 5.
3.3The rest of the hire fee, the ceremony fee if you are marrying at the barn, and the damage deposit are due no later than 3 months before your event. We will send you a reminder.
3.4If you would like to pay in instalments, we are happy to agree a schedule with you in writing. All instalments must reach us by the date the balance is due.
3.5Payment is by bank transfer to the account on your booking confirmation, quoting your event date as the reference. Please confirm our account details with us by phone before you send the first payment, and never act on a change of bank details sent by email without checking with us first.
3.6If any payment is late, we will write to you. If we have not received it within 7 days of that notice, we may cancel your booking by writing to you. That is treated as a cancellation by you under section 5.
3.7Anything you hire from Tents n' Events or any other supplier is booked, paid for and contracted directly between you and that supplier. Supplier prices shown in our pricing guide are a guide only and are confirmed by the supplier when you book with them.
4Damage deposit
4.1The damage deposit is £500. It is paid with your final payment, 3 months before your event, and we hold it until after the event. It does not earn interest.
4.2We may deduct from it:
4.3We will return the damage deposit, less any deductions, within 7 days of your event, with an itemised note of anything we have deducted.
4.4If our costs are more than the damage deposit, we will send you an itemised invoice for the difference, payable within 14 days.
5If you cancel
5.1To cancel, email us at archie@haylandsbarn.co.uk. Your cancellation takes effect on the day we receive it.
5.2If you cancel more than 3 months before your event, we keep your deposit and nothing further is due.
5.3If you cancel 3 months or less before your event, we keep all sums you have paid towards the hire fee and ceremony fee, and any part of them still outstanding remains payable. The damage deposit is returned in full.
5.4These charges reflect the loss we expect to suffer when a date is cancelled. We take a limited number of bookings each year, and a cancelled date is hard to fill again.
5.5Whenever you cancel, we will try to resell your date. If we resell it at the full hire fee, we will refund the sums you have paid, less an administration charge of £500, within 14 days of receiving the new booking's deposit.
5.6We strongly recommend that you take out wedding insurance as soon as you book. It can cover cancellation charges and other losses that we cannot refund.
6Changing your date
6.1You may move your event to another available date once, provided that you ask in writing at least 6 months before your original date and the new date is within 12 months of it. We charge £250 for the administration involved, payable when the new date is confirmed. Your fees stay as booked.
6.2If you ask with less than 6 months' notice, or want to move a second time, we treat it as a cancellation of your original date under section 5 and a new booking at our current prices. Clause 5.5 still applies if we resell your original date.
7If we cancel
7.1If we have to cancel your booking for a reason within our control, for example because the barn cannot be used, we will tell you as soon as we can and refund everything you have paid us in full. We will not be responsible for any other costs or losses, except where the law does not allow us to limit our liability (see section 16).
7.2If something outside our reasonable control stops your event going ahead, such as a pandemic, government restrictions, flood, fire, storm damage or loss of mains services, we will first offer you an alternative date within 12 months at the same fees. If no alternative date works for you, we will refund everything you have paid us in full. In either case we will not be liable for any other costs or losses.
7.3We are not in breach of these terms if we are delayed or prevented from meeting them by something outside our reasonable control.
8Your weekend at the barn
8.1You have exclusive use of the barn, the patio, the lawn to the south of the barn and the parking field for your event. The rest of Haylands Farm, including the farmyard, farm buildings, fields and machinery, is a working farm and is out of bounds to you, your guests and your suppliers.
8.2Access times are:
8.3Nobody may stay on site overnight. Camping, campervans and sleeping in vehicles are not permitted. Vehicles left overnight are at their owners' risk and must be collected by 11am on Sunday.
8.4The barn holds up to about 200 guests. The exact number depends on your layout, including dining, dance floor, stage and suppliers' equipment, and must be agreed with us as part of your planning. We may reduce numbers where fire safety requires it.
8.5Our on-site manager will be there throughout the hire period to direct suppliers and help the day run smoothly. Their reasonable instructions on safety, noise, access and the use of the site must be followed. We may enter any part of the barn or grounds at any time.
8.6If guests, suppliers or belongings remain on site after the times in clause 8.2, we charge £250 for each hour or part hour of overrun, deducted from the damage deposit in the first instance.
8.7Children must be supervised by a responsible adult at all times. Haylands is a working farm with vehicles, animals and machinery nearby, and everyone must keep to the areas in clause 8.1.
8.8Smoking and vaping are permitted only in the outdoor area we designate.
8.9Parking is in our field. The drive is suitable for cars, light commercial vehicles and minibuses. Coaches cannot get in. In wet weather we may direct parking elsewhere on the farm. We are in a rural spot, so please ask guests to pre-book taxis.
9Ceremonies
9.1Haylands Barn is approved for civil marriage and civil partnership ceremonies. Our ceremony fee is £300 and covers use of the approved area and our arrangements for the ceremony.
9.2You book the registrar yourselves through West Sussex Registration Service, give legal notice of your marriage and pay their fees directly. Registrars book up well ahead, so we suggest contacting them as soon as your date is confirmed with us.
9.3Ceremonies may take place in the barn or in another agreed area of the venue, as our approval allows. The area must be agreed with us in advance. It may change on the day because of the weather, in agreement with the registrar.
9.4The conditions of our approval apply to every ceremony. In particular, no food or drink may be sold or consumed in the ceremony area for one hour before or during the ceremony, the public must be able to attend the ceremony without charge, and a civil ceremony may not include religious content.
9.5If you are marrying elsewhere, such as St Giles Church in Graffham, no ceremony fee applies.
10Food, drink and licensing
10.1Haylands Barn is a dry hire venue. You choose and contract your own caterers and bar, and we do not charge corkage.
10.2We provide a covered prep tent and a 30kVA generator for your caterers. Please tell us your caterers' and musicians' power requirements at least 4 weeks before your event so that we can confirm the generator will cover them.
10.3If alcohol is to be sold at your event, whether through a paid bar or in any other way, the bar operator must hold a valid Temporary Event Notice for Haylands Barn covering the hours of sale, or a premises licence that covers the event. The notice must be given to the licensing authority at least 10 working days before the event, and a copy of the acknowledged notice must be sent to us at least 7 days before the event. No alcohol may be sold without it.
10.4A free bar, where no drinks are sold, does not need a Temporary Event Notice.
10.5The bar closes when the music stops at 11:30pm. The bar operator is responsible for serving alcohol lawfully, including operating Challenge 25 and refusing to serve anyone who is drunk.
10.6Caterers must hold a food hygiene rating of 4 or above and bring their own equipment. Caterers and bar operators must take away all of their own waste, including empties, at the end of the event. We clear general waste left by guests in the barn and on the patio.
11Suppliers
11.1You are free to use any supplier, and there is no charge for using suppliers who are not on our list. We encourage you to choose from our trusted suppliers, who know the barn and have a proven record with us.
11.2Every supplier working at your event must hold public liability insurance of at least £5 million, use electrical equipment that has been PAT tested within the last 12 months, and follow our on-site manager's instructions. We may ask for copies of insurance certificates.
11.3Please send us the names and contact details of all your suppliers at least 4 weeks before your event.
11.4Suppliers may set up from 8am on Friday and must leave the site by 5pm. On Saturday they may arrive from 8am. Everything they bring must be removed by 11am on Sunday unless we have agreed otherwise in writing.
11.5Supplier vehicles may only drive and park where our manager directs. Vehicles are not permitted on the lawn without permission.
11.6You are responsible for your suppliers while they are on site, including any damage they cause and any breach of these terms. We are not responsible for the performance of any supplier or for anything you hire from them.
12Music and noise
12.1Haylands sits in a quiet village, and we rely on good relations with our neighbours. There is no sound limiter, so we ask for your cooperation and your suppliers' cooperation.
12.2Amplified music, whether live or recorded, must be played inside the barn. Loud music outside is not permitted. Only low-level background music may be played on the patio, and our manager may ask for it to be turned down or off.
12.3All music must stop by 11:30pm. Bands and DJs must follow our manager's instructions on volume at any time.
13Fire, confetti, dogs and the site
13.1Fireworks are strictly prohibited anywhere on Haylands Farm. So are sky lanterns, fire pits, braziers, sparklers, flares and pyrotechnics of any kind.
13.2Confetti is not permitted, including biodegradable confetti and confetti cannons.
13.3Candles and other naked flames may only be used in enclosed holders agreed with our manager, must stand on a stable surface away from anything that could catch, and must never be left unattended.
13.4Dogs and other pets are not allowed at Haylands Barn. Assistance dogs are always welcome.
13.5Drones may only be flown with our written permission, by an operator who complies with the Civil Aviation Authority's rules.
14Decorations
14.1You are welcome to decorate the barn and patio. Decorations may only be hung from the existing hooks and fittings. Nails, screws, staples, pins, tape, putty and adhesives must not be used on the flint, timber, paintwork or furniture.
14.2All decorations must be removed by 11am on Sunday, leaving the barn as you found it.
14.3Our furniture, lighting, marquee and equipment must not be moved, altered or taken outside their usual area without our manager's agreement.
15Damage and behaviour
15.1You are responsible for any damage to the barn, its contents, the grounds, our equipment or our neighbours' property caused by you, your guests or your suppliers, and for the cost of putting it right.
15.2We may refuse entry to, or remove from the site, anyone who is behaving in a way that is dangerous, abusive, unlawful or likely to cause damage or nuisance. We may stop the event if we reasonably believe it is necessary for safety or to comply with the law. Where that is caused by a breach of these terms by you, your guests or your suppliers, no refund is due.
15.3Illegal drugs are not tolerated anywhere on the site.
16Our liability and insurance
16.1We hold public liability insurance of £5 million.
16.2We are not responsible for loss of or damage to property belonging to you, your guests or your suppliers, including gifts, cards, cash, clothing, equipment and vehicles, unless it is caused by our negligence.
16.3We are not responsible for the acts, omissions or failures of any supplier, or for the weather.
16.4Nothing in these terms limits or excludes our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that the law does not allow us to limit. Subject to that, our total liability to you under or in connection with your booking is limited to the fees you have paid us.
17Photographs and your details
17.1We would love to share photographs of your wedding, but we will only use them in our marketing with your written consent and with credit to your photographer.
17.2We use your personal details to manage your booking and your event, and we share them only with people who need them for that purpose, such as our on-site team. We keep them securely and in line with data protection law, and we do not pass them to anyone else for marketing.
18General
18.1Changes to these terms or to your booking are only binding if we agree them in writing.
18.2If any part of these terms is found to be unenforceable, the rest still applies.
18.3If we do not enforce a term straight away, we can still enforce it later.
18.4If something goes wrong, please tell us. Complaints should be sent in writing to archie@haylandsbarn.co.uk, and we will reply within 14 days.
18.5These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction over any dispute. Nothing in these terms affects your legal rights as a consumer.
18.6We may update these terms for future bookings. Your booking is governed by the version you accepted, which we send with your booking confirmation.
Accepting these terms
When you book, we will ask you to confirm in writing that you have read and accept these terms. Paying your deposit also confirms your acceptance.