If you like country houses, you’ll love this…
06/03/2008
What’s your idea of a short break? If it’s exploring fabulous old country houses and finding out how “the other half” live (and lived), then Warner Leisure Hotels have come up with the perfect holiday for you.
Gail Bent, one of the country’s foremost country house experts, has designed a series of tours based around Warner’s midweek “Experience Breaks”.
You can find out how the Tudors lived on trips to Hardwick Hall and Haddon Hall in Derbyshire; or discover what life in an English Country Manor was really like through a privately conducted visit to Cothay Manor in the West Country – said to be the finest small mediaeval manor house – as well as trips to Wolfeton House, a fine early Tudor manor house.
Visiting a building with an informed and enthusiastic expert like Canadian-born Gail will provide you with insights you could never hope to glean on a normal visit, and these breaks go even further than that. Go to Nidd Hall in North Yorkshire during June and you can actually meet the Lords and Ladies of the Manor. Experience close up and personal visits to Newburgh Priory and meet Lord or Lady Wombwell. Pop into Markenfield Hall and meet the present owners of this fine old house.
Each of these breaks is a real trip back in time, providing an unrivalled opportunity to discover what really went on below as well as above stairs. For instance, have you ever wondered what life was like in a Georgian Country House? Gail will transport you back to a period of elegance and grace, when country houses such as Mawley Hall, Berrington Hall and Holme Lacy House were organised to reflect the lifestyle of polite society.
And as well as visiting fine old buildings, you’ll be staying in one too! All of the tours are based at historical houses - such as Littlecote House in Berkshire, where Henry VIII wooed Jane Seymour – and you can even stay in the room he once occupied. Bodelwyddan, which also hosts tours, is one of the finest castles in North Wales – home to a fabulous collection of Victorian paintings as well as being a gothic castle with architecture and artefacts to savour.
“This country has a fabulous resource of buildings,” says Gail, and sometimes we don’t always appreciate just what we have. I aim to provide people with insights that they might not always get on a conducted tour – the inside story on a house and also the architectural features that make it so special. Often the house will be open to just our group.
“Each tour is designed to be informative and fun, a chance to explore the nation’s heritage without getting too academic! I never tire of visiting country houses. Over the years, I’ve discovered that each one has its own unique personality, its own story to tell. To enter an historic house is to step back in time, to catch a glimpse of long vanished worlds.
"It seems that, today, the popular pastime of country house visiting is on the upswing. And no wonder. Where else are we offered up on a plate the work of the finest architects, designers and craftsmen in the history of domestic building anywhere? Amazingly, these houses, taken together, are said to contain the largest collection of fine and decorative art objects in the world. And it’s all on our doorstep.
For me, the country house offers never-ending delights; the joy of my job is the pleasure of sharing their treasures and secrets with others."
There are eight tours that you can select from. Each of the four day breaks contain two day-tours, and Gail will also be there at the hotel to field your questions in between. To book call Freephone 0800 1 388 399 or log onto the link below.