Shrouded from the world by rolling gardens and wooded dells and with 'impeccably maintained grounds', this creeper-covered Victorian country house was once a retreat for circuit judges. 'The building’s history adds to its charm,’ writes one reader, who was married there. Public rooms, including a clubby bar and elegant drawing room, are ‘splendid, a fire glowing in the entrance hall’. Bedrooms are comfortably traditional with striped and toile du Jouy wallpapers, armchairs, some with a four-poster. Readers appreciated touches such as ‘fresh fruit and sherry replenished every day’, even ‘a television in the bathroom'. 'The excellent dinner preceded by delicious canapés in the lounge beside a blazing fire' might include fillet of beef with onion crumb and red wine or halibut with chorizo dauphine. There are vegan and vegetarian options, and bistro dishes. 'Professional and very friendly staff' are consistently praised. ‘When we left, it was the cheerful general manager, Tim Howard, who brought round our car and put our luggage within it,’ writes a trusted reader. (Anthony Bradbury, Joanne Vickers, GD, AC, and others)