From Woodland Hideout to Coastal Retreat: Kevin McCloud’s Ultimate Shed Relocation

I doubt we will ever see Shed of the year again on TV or even YouTube, but Channel 4 have put up a video of Sir Kevin McCloud’s Man Made Home all the way back from 2013 – need to be in UK to watch, apparently.

Having successfully crafted an amazing cabin in the woods, Kevin McCloud now wants to build his very own beach getaway in Somerset. He starts by making a deck from a shipwreck (Kevin McCloud’s Man Made Home Series 2 Episode 1

First Shown: 22nd September 2013.)

If there’s one thing we shed enthusiasts understand, it’s the profound emotional bond between a person and their wooden sanctuary. But how far would you go to take your shed on holiday? In a fascinating episode of Kevin McCloud’s Man Made Home (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtGzu7A6Iu8), the beloved architectural broadcaster answers that exact question by uprooting his bespoke woodland cabin and hauling it 50 miles to the rugged Jurassic Coast of West Somerset.

The Great Shed Migration

Kevin’s original bolt hole, crafted heavily from repurposed scrap, was initially buried in a muddy woodland hole. Moving a six-tonne oak cabin built on a crumbling 1950s chassis is no small feat [07:38]. With the help of his “guerrilla engineer” friend Will, Kevin excavated the heavy structure and took it on a white-knuckle journey down the motorway [08:48]. After narrowly squeezing the shed through a 12-foot stone bridge with mere inches to spare, the cabin finally arrived at its breathtaking new home: a windswept cliff edge overlooking the sea [10:05].

Building the “Noah’s Ark” Promenade Deck

Of course, a shed perched on a cliff needs a proper deck, but Kevin’s strict rule of only using locally sourced, scavenged, or upcycled materials meant a trip to the local DIY store was out of the question. Instead, the team salvaged beautiful, serpentine oak ribs from the Sanu, a decaying World War II Navy vessel abandoned on a nearby beach [15:39].

The result? A magnificent, boat-shaped cantilevered promenade deck that extends precariously over the cliff edge. It’s an engineering marvel that securely supports massive weight in mid-air by shifting the load back onto the land, offering an exhilarating viewpoint over the crashing waves [28:44]. Kevin lovingly describes the finished aesthetic as a “flying version of Noah’s Ark in a Monty Python kind of way” [01:16]—a perfect blend of nautical history and off-grid shed architecture.

Fishy Off-Grid Innovations

Living off the grid means getting creative with energy. Kevin’s pursuit of a local, sustainable light source led him down a rather smelly path. Inspired by 19th-century accounts of “candle fish,” he first attempted to bake mackerel and light them like candles—a smoky, disastrous failure he appropriately dubbed the “macrolabra” [18:44].

Not easily deterred, Kevin visited a local fisherman in Watchet Harbour to collect discarded rotting fish guts. By rendering the offal and mixing the resulting fish oil with 80% overproof rum, he successfully created a clean-burning, soot-free biofuel [25:06]. It’s a testament to the fact that shed life encourages us to look at our surroundings—even fish waste—with a completely new, innovative perspective.

A (Failed) Voyage to the Pub

No seaside holiday is complete without a trip to the local pub, but Kevin opted out of a standard coastal walk. Relying on an ancient Chinese design, he and Will built a hazelwood raft kept afloat by inflated sheepskins coated in thick sheep grease [33:14]. Unsurprisingly, the open ocean proved too much for the bizarre contraption. The skins leaked, the raft sank, and they had to be shamefully rescued by a motorised boat [41:16]. Despite the comical failure, the sheer ambition of the DIY project is something any shed tinkerer has to admire.

The Philosophy of Shed Life

Ultimately, this maritime adventure isn’t just about eccentric DIY projects; it’s about a philosophy that sits at the very heart of the shed community. As Kevin wisely notes, there is a deep, intrinsic happiness found in making and doing rather than simply buying and consuming [27:16]. By stripping life back to its bare essentials, foraging for coastal food, and relying on his own two hands, Kevin proves that a shed isn’t just a wooden box at the bottom of the garden. It is a “happiness machine” [45:06], a canvas for our imaginations, and the ultimate off-grid escape.

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