Church cottage is a good size for 2 adults or 2 adults and 2 younger children.. The situation is very good as Barnard Castle is a pretty and pleasant town. We actually enjoyed the church bells (not very audible through closed windows) and had no noise from birds at all. Parking is fine as well. Shops close by, so really a plus. The setup of the cottage is good, with good-sized rooms throughout. Only a hall is missing for hanging up coats and leaving shoes. The kitchen was well-stocked, unfortunately previous visitors have displayed a lack of understanding of cooking utensils as all medium-quality non-stick pans were scratched. Dishwasher, fridge and washing-machine worked well, we did not need the freezer. The extractor fan is of the noisy type and does not work well at all, but there is a second window above the sink.
The bed had boards for springs and a simple and to our taste not comfortable mattress (you could feel the springs and metal frame through the coverings). The mattress was clean and did not look very old, probably simply did not have the right quality to start with.
The 3-2-1 seater combo suffered from a similar problem: very uncomfortable to sit in.
To summarise: this could be a great little cottage in an attactive location, but it needs a bit of investment. As decent sleep is essential for a good holiday and comfortable sitting when spending time in the cottage, we know what we would change first. With these changes in place we are very happy to recommend Church cottage.
[Please do not publish: Could you tell the owners that the front left hot plate of the cooker does not seem to be working? At least we could not make it work.]