The overall aim of this study is to devise, using participatory action research methods, a high quality transferable model of Cottage Hospice care that involves all relevant stakeholders. The study team at the International Observatory on End of Life Care will work with Hospice in the Weald, Kent to evaluate the development and implementation of the Cottage Hospice model of care. Hospice in the Weald is the first to be building a Cottage Hospice, where people in the last two or three weeks of life can die in an environment where they are supported by their family, informal carers and volunteers. By working with the University of Lancaster, Hospice in the Weald is accepting the challenge to demonstrate the utility of the Cottage Hospice concept and its transferability to the wider palliative and end of life care sector in the UK and beyond.