The hotel grounds and gardens are absolutely beautiful, set in 100 acres of ancient woodland with the River Tamer running through the estate. The gardens were created by the renowned landscape designer Humphry Repton 1752-1818.

Designed 200 years ago this was one of Humphry Repton’s last commissions and brings together a multitude of landscaping elements for which Repton was renowned.

We had a walk along the long grass terrace every day,  down to the Shell House admiring the planting in the long border  and back through the upper pathway through the long Rose Arch, there was something different to see every day, the Roses were beautiful around the arch as were the clumps of Yellow Alstroemeria’s in full flower, the lilac coloured Serbian Bellflowers, the White lily’s and the Long Stemmed Mullein all added lots of colour to this part of the garden.

On another day we ventured to the opposite side of the hotel, passing the Stable Block, climbing the few stone steps up the grassy bank into The Dell and Arboretum, we only walked half way up the slope till we reached the wooden bridge crossing the stream. The Arboretum is full of rare and unusual trees from around the world, tall ones, small ones, tall and slim ones and short and fat ones. Everywhere you turn there is something that catches your attention, many of the trees have been designated ‘Champion Trees’, A champion tree is an exceptional example of its species due to its enormous size, great age, rarity, or historical significance. These remarkable trees stand out because of their height, size, or unique characteristics. In Britain, the Tree Register maintains a database of over 190,000 champion trees, providing valuable information about their growth, wildlife value, and historical management. The first Champion tree we saw was a The Castor Aralia tree, a deciduous tree native to northeastern Asia. It belongs to the family Araliaceae and is the sole species in the genus Kalopanax. It was introduced from Japan in 1865 and was situated on the East side of the Dell Stream just before the wooden bridge, standing at 13 metres in height, though they can grow up to 30 metres. A little further up the Dell on the right was a massive Common Silver Fir, standing at 45 metres in height, also known as the Nordmann fir, a beautiful coniferous evergreen tree, native to the mountainous regions to the Southeast of the Black Sea. After crossing the stream we continued back down the slope, following the track back towards the hotel, passing a huge cluster of what looked like Black Bamboo, its stems well over 30mm in diameter, a little further down the slope a pair of Red Cedars standing side by side, their trunks heading straight up into the sky, a little further on we came across another Champion tree, a massive Weeping Beech tree on our left adjacent to the stream, standing at just over 28 metres in height with its massive pendulous branches, thought to have been planted around 1836. Just over the stream on the East side of the bank was another Champion in the form of a Japanese Big Leaved Magnolia, standing at 15 metres, though they can reach twice this height, this deciduous tree originating from Japan was planted in 1893. The egg-shaped leaves are massive, measuring up to 50 cm in length. It flowers In late spring and early summer, producing creamy-white flowers with crimson stamens its fragrant blooms are about 20 cm in width.

Continuing our walk down the slope we soon arrived back at the hotel in time for freshly home baked scones and a pot of tea. Let’s hope on our next visit we can explore more of the gardens and in particular the Cedars and Maples.