‘Can only talk in superlatives,’ writes a reader this year of Sue and James Murray’s historic manor house. It stands in parkland laid out by Walter Sarel amid gently rolling Dartmoor countryside. The hall chimneypiece is dated 1626, but the building is largely the creation of the Revd Sabine Baring-Gould, best known for penning ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’. Our reader was knocked out by ‘the ambience… the friendly and efficient welcome… the beauty and style of the house… Three magnificent fireplaces, all lit and roaring, creating a great atmosphere.’ Public rooms are filled with antiques and paintings. ‘Impeccably furnished’ bedrooms have ‘high-quality antiques’ – not least, a four-poster that once belonged to Charles I’s beloved queen, Henrietta Maria. In the dining room, with dark panelling and ornate plaster ceiling, canapés are a prelude to Matthew Peryer’s cooking using produce from local suppliers and the walled kitchen garden. ‘Presentation and quality were of the highest order.’ A typical dish: citrus-roasted pollack, parsley root, Cornish cider, steamed mussels, clams. ‘Breakfast saw freshly squeezed orange juice, quality local bacon, scrambled eggs to match.’ (Ian Dewey)