Great Fosters

This unusual combination offers an alluring opportunity to travel-weary visitors keen to experience a side of England usually only found deep in the distant shires. Great Fosters is a scheduled historic monument which still displays a plethora of original features in the grand public rooms, the dining room and the lavishly decorated bedrooms. The hotel's magnificent gardens cover some 50 landscaped acres liberally adorned with topiary and statuary.

A highlight is the intricate knot garden, which is surrounded by a Saxon moat and despite its Tudor overtones actually dates from the early 20th-century Arts and Crafts Movement era. There are rose gardens and a lily pond as well, and guests can take a little gentle exercise on the croquet lawn, in the swimming pool, or on the tennis court.