Gravetye Manor
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This gorgeous, intimate Elizabethan Manor house hotel is as famous for its 1,000-acre grounds and 35-acre garden as it is for its Michelin-starred restaurant. The great gardener William Robinson, lived at Gravetye from 1884 until he died in his nineties in 1935 and this was where he pioneered and created the English natural garden in collaboration with his friend Gertrude Jekyll. Now copied all over the world, his ideas were ground-breaking at the time. Having worked in formal gardens in England and France he shunned their design in favour of carefree native planting and landscaping that would enhance the natural beauty of gardens and woods.
At Gravetye an enchanting mix of trees and shrubs are divided into different gardens, all under-planted with seemingly scattered bulbs seeds and perennials giving the impression that the garden naturally existed and is just maintained by the gardening team. The woodland is filled with vast sweeps of bluebells, anemones and lily of the valley at this time of year, and makes a delightful stroll, while the planting in the main gardens is soft and voluptuous.
While away the afternoon with cucumber sandwiches, homemade lemonade and tea on the formal lawn, as Robinson used to in his latter years, or beside the wood-burning fire in one of the oak-panelled lounges sumptuously furnished with antique chairs and sofas, looking onto the garden brimming with unashamedly old-fashioned tea- and china roses in shades of faded pink and apricot, and surrounded by the wisteria clad pergolas and arches – the heady scent will make you swoon.
Afternoon tea from 3.30pm, £18, three-course Michelin star lunch £25.
Off Vowels Lane , East Grinstead, W Sussex, UK
Contact tel: +44 1342 810567, fax: +44 1342 810080, e-mail:
Cost standard double room: £200 - £500 per night
Services parking, hotel restaurant, hotel bar
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Gravetye Manor
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