Judges

A circular drive, creeper-covered facade, rolling lawns and woodland are as you would expect of a country home that was once a retreat for circuit judges. Today’s guests at this Victorian country house feel the same relaxation on arrival: ‘a warm welcome, excellent hospitality and service’. ‘In no time at all we were whisked to our room’, report readers. Bedrooms are comfortably traditional with striped and toile du Jouy wallpapers and upholstered armchairs and include a ‘lovely large room overlooking the garden with four-poster bed’. The fresh fruit, flowers, chocolates and sherry go down well, while bathrooms are surprisingly modern, some with televisions or air baths. Before dining, take a drink and canapés in the clubby bar or beside the ‘blazing’ fire in the elegant drawing room. Dinner in the conservatory dining room, with its ‘excellent’ garden views, offers sophisticated dishes such as lamb with pommes Anna and mint emulsion, sea trout with potato rösti and clam velouté. There’s an impressive wine list, too. ‘The grounds are gorgeous,’ reports a reader who married here, ‘the staff couldn’t do enough for us.’ (Melvin Gold, JV, AB)