Fawsley Hall

STANDING IN 2,000 ACRES of rolling parkland complete with lakes and grazing sheep, Fawsley Hall could have come straight from the lavish set of a Merchant Ivory film.
 
Out in the shires amongst spires and squires, it oozes baronial pedigree. Queen Elizabeth I reputedly slumbered here, while Capability Brown landscaped these sweeping grounds. The estate was one of the great houses of the 16th century, and home to the Knightley family for 500 years. Now a plush country house hotel with Tudor, Georgian and Victorian wings, Fawsley Hall bills itself as a place of affordable excess.

Centrepiece of the mansion is the vaulted, 500 year old Great Hall, with its soaring cathedral like ceiling. Despite such lofty proportions it manages to be both awesome and cossetting, with plenty of deep sofas, fat candles, and crackling fires. We were greeted with flickering flames and plenty of sofas to plonk ourselves into, with all the latest mags and papers to dip into.

Mullioned windows
 
Bedrooms beckon in sumptuous classic-modern style. All are styled in keeping with the surrounds, and care has been taken to retain elegant period features, while adding all the creature comforts today’s  Elizabethans expect. Some in the newer wings are split-level, while all have individual furnishings and decor. 

Our bedroom (Room 5) was done out in blues and creams, with a giant four-poster in the middle and a huge walk-in wardrobe big enough for a film star's trunk. The views could have been straight from a painting – lawns, meadows, a stream and a little church beyond with sheep grazing. And of course a bath plenty big enough for the two of us.
 
For the full Fawsley experience you might want to bed down in lavish room 1575, the Elizabeth suite – named after the year the great queen stayed. From the ancient exposed stonework and mullioned windows to the tapestries, Tudor oak furniture and huge seven foot wide four poster dressed in Frette linen, it’s every bit as regal today.  
 
Good Queen Bess might have been taken aback by the huge widescreen plasma TV by the bed for decadent late-night movie watching, but she would certainly have approved of the raised freestanding bath, huge open fireplace, brass chandeliers and plush deep sofas – not to mention bucolic country views.
 
Fawsley Hall's mix of stately setting, gorgeous grounds and queenly comforts makes it a favourite spot for tying the knot. Future brides often book into this handsome rural escape for some pampering before the big day, as well as the honeymoon night. There was a wedding party there on the night of our stay, which gave the place a pleasing buzz.  
 
Two restaurants – Equilibrium, with its inventive British menus, and informal Bess's Brasserrie – await. Should you tire of the high life, there’s a jacuzzi, steam room and sauna in the Georgian cellar, a jogging trail and tennis courts (with even a personal trainer on call) to keep you in trim. We opted for ultra-relaxing massage each, which was just the ticket.

© Room for Romance