The Newt

Hotel review

The 17th century Newt with its magnificent gardens, its farm shop, cider production and history of gardening museum has changed the landscape of English country house hotels for ever. The Palladian-fronted façade of Hadspen House, framed picturesquely by trees, is visible as you wind your way down the drive to arrive at what is now collectively called The Newt, a name derived from the colony of great crested newts which have long been in residence.

Bought by South Africans Koos Bekker and his wife Karen Roos, who already have the acclaimed Babylonstoren, an old Cape Dutch farm east of Cape Town, under their belt, this project moved swiftly from the original idea of being a private house to becoming a hotel with a wider aim of fulfilling a role within the local community. A cider press and cellar draw on Somerset apples, a farm shop offers regional cheese and a butcher sources cuts from trusted, local farms. The impressive gardens previously designed by Penelope Hobhouse, whose family owned Hadspen House until 2013, have been completely replanted and redesigned by Patrice Taravella. One of the many highlights is the egg-shaped Parabola walled garden, baroque in design, which contains 267 varieties of trained apple trees. But the Victorian fragrance garden is also a place in which to linger. All the different gardens aim to bring the Estate’s past history to life and tell the story of gardening through the ages.

Bedrooms are split between the main house (with the majority of rooms on the first floor having king-size four poster beds; loft rooms on the second floor come with low ceilings and exposed beams) and the stable yard with its quirky and utterly charming stable house rooms, lofts above, a stand-alone converted granary and clock house rooms in the former coach house.

Opposite these is a Spa, housed in what was once the cow barn. Beautifully done, its rough Hadspen stone walls surround a vast heated swimming pool which continues outside to a hydrotherapy pool offering views of the neighbouring medicinal herb garden.

Food draws on the produce of the estate; freshly picked vegetables and fruit taking centre stage. In the oak-panelled Botanical Rooms restaurant, try the grilled purple broccoli with black garlic butter and roasted cauliflower with The Newt Cider rarebit or opt for Cornish hake cooked over fire or Devon brown crab, before finishing with a local orchard apple pie with buffalo milk ice cream. Pre dinner, head to the elegant bar, rich with stucco work, and order a Rawbarb house cocktail made from raw rhubarb juice liqueur and prosecco. The Garden Café comes into its own at lunch with dishes such as chard, braised with roast lamb, chargrilled spring onions and tarragon mayonnaise or memorable roasted Jerusalem artichokes with Sharpham Park spelt risotto, cave-aged cheddar, spinach and lemon.

Walk all that off by climbing up through the woodland to the recently launched History of Gardening Museum, a fascinating collection of interactive exhibits which trace the role of gardens worldwide over the years.

Mary Lussiana Review published: 2023-12-21