Stourhead 2.5.25
The room in the Nog Inn, Wincanton is a decent size and we were forced to have the window open because of the high temperatures – some of the warmest ever days to start May. Consequently we also discovered that Wincanton has some pretty noisy birds as the sunrise bird song was impossible to ignore, added to which people in one of the adjacent rooms were very early departures and were not as quiet as they might have been.
However breakfast is excellent and was a great start to the day. Car loaded we then headed ever so slightly east as we finally make it to Stourhead. We had been due to visit it at the end of July last year but our plans fell apart when we encountered a pub room that was not a patch on the excellent quality of the Nog Inn and decided to drive home rather than to endure two nights in a less welcoming environment. No names – but we had intended to visit Stourhead then but headed home instead.
We had never been to Stourhead before, although have obviously seen pictures of the gardens and one or two appearances on television programmes, so the views are known – but until one is actually standing there it is perhaps hard to visualise the reality – which is beautiful. We did most of the main walk – taking one shortcut at the expense of a steep gradient to leave out some of the meander.
The house was reconstructed by the Hoare family with monies originally derived from goldsmithing and banking until such time as more difficult periods were suffered as is often the case with later family generations. The grounds have been maintained and have now matured perhaps beyond what the originators could ever have imagined. Visitors to the Hoare family were required to navigate the full garden walk – but I suppose it was a good way of developing an appetite.
The inside of the house is currently open only at ground floor level – but perhaps the most stunning room for me was the library. However the picture gallery on the other side of the house again has a size and contents which were intended to prove to the visitors of the wealth and standing of the family in a fashion similar to that demonstrated by Bess of Hardwick and Hardwick Hall which we visited a few weeks ago.
Leaving Stourhead we then took to the A303 and traversed the Blackdown Hills. I first remember driving this road with an uncle in 1973. There was one particularly sharp curve at Barton which I struggled even then to believe should be allowed on an A road. In the intervening 52 years the curve has been eased a little through road widening, but it remains a huge surprise on an A road. Much of the remainder of the route (except at Stonehenge) has changed significantly over the intervening period and indeed this trip encountered a completely new section a Sparkford (opened in November 2024) which was unknown to the satnav as it tried to tell me which exit to take at a now non-existent roundabout.
Our destination today is Lympstone Manor which is almost in Exmouth even if it is called Lympstone. Road works slow our final approach as we are diverted around the countryside and then get caught in particularly slow traffic due to an invisible set of lights for the road works (invisible in that we turn off before reaching them).
Lympstone Manor is a gorgeous hotel, owned and run by Michael Caines. He has developed the property and it has some wonderful views out over the Exe estuary and with the clear fine weather we can see large numbers of little boats in the estuary.
Pre-dinner we sit on the terrace in the sun – it feels warmer out there than in the lounge and sup a glass of the hotel’s own sparkling wine from the vineyard in view between us and the water. And a great start to the evening. Unusually we decide to go with the fish only menu – most of which is local.
Lympstone Manor menu
Regrettably something goes wrong and we get the courses in the wrong order and that takes the shine off the evening slightly. Apologies are made and charges reduced – so the right things are done but it is a shame that it was not right. The ravioli lobster course and the rhubarb soufflé were both excellent but perhaps because of the mix up we felt it was not quite as good as last night.