At the top of a sweeping, tree-lined drive, Eshott Hall comes into view: a country-house hotel with all the right attributes. The architecture is Georgian, with a beautiful, wisteria-covered façade and a perfectly proportioned interior. The setting could hardly be lovelier, enveloped by woodland and with rolling lawns (great for croquet) and a walled kitchen garden. In the public rooms, vast sash windows look out to the peaceful grounds. These rooms contain their original fireplaces and mouldings framing antique furniture and paintings, while sofas, easy chairs and books lend a relaxed feel. This may be a grand manor, but the atmosphere is one of a friendly house party. There are 11 rooms in the house and six in the old gamekeeper’s lodge (five minutes’ walk away), all distinctively decorated, with names ranging from Veg Patch to Versailles. Yours might have a sleigh bed, a four-poster, a chandelier or a window seat. There are also three self-catering cottages for two to six people and an award-winning restaurant.
The Gardens. Surrounded by 70 acres of mature gardens, including a restored Victorian fernery, a fine selection of specimen trees and ancient woodland beyond, the grounds at Eshott Hall have a magic all of their own. There’s a productive walled kitchen garden from which the chefs source many ingredients and if you visit in late spring you’ll be treated to show-stopping blooms of fragrant wisteria across the frontage of the Hall.
The Signature Lemon Souffle. A Robert Parker Signature dish, the owner’s personal favourite is on the menu all year-round. Zingy and bursting with flavour, it’s the perfect way to round off an evening at Eshott.
The Walker’s Guide to Northumberland. Eshott is enviably located in the heart of the rolling Northumbrian countryside, just minutes away from the Northumberland coastline. Purchase a copy of the Walker’s Guide to 25 Classic Northumberland Walks from the hotel Reception, order a luxury picnic hamper from the restaurant and explore God’s own country.
Nota Bene
In 1877, Emerson Muschamp Bainbridge, founder of Bainbridge’s (‘the world’s first department store’) in Newcastle, purchased Eshott Hall as his private dwelling. Bainbridge’s was sold years later to the John Lewis partnership.
