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Cottages with some historyMany of us are fond of historical features in country cottages; thatched roofs and poster beds but would be quite as nostalgic if we recall the problems associated with them in medieval times. Thatched roofs were warm and desirable to a host of creatures including mice, rats and insects. These would sometimes fall into the house and into bed. A canopy or covering was added to beds to prevent vermin from falling in with current occupants. Houses with some history tend to have interesting features, inglenook fireplaces, old bread ovens, or possibly the occasional ghost. You may find cottages with the following historic features to your liking:
A selection of country and holiday cottages with history and character:
Bruisyard Hall in Saxmundham, Suffolk began life as the Manor House of Rokes Hall which was converted in 1364 to the Abbey of the Poor Clares. There is at least one priest's 'hideyhole', a 'sweet toned bell', oak staircases and a warren of unfurnished rooms in the attic.
Now a stylish and comfortable Hall with 10 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, it is eminently suitable for family functions, parties (easy to imagine a 'Who dunnit?' event here), corporate entertainment and business meetings. Various services can be arranged including catering, baby-sitting, and housekeeping. Bruisyard Hall is available for short breaks. Telephone 01728 638712
The swimming pool at Bruern Holiday Cottages in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire is shown on the left. The old stables attached to Bruern Abbey (dating back to 1720) have been converted to a collection of beautifully furnished cottages of a 5 Star standard. In 1947, Bruern Abbey and its estate were bought by Michael Astor (1916-1980), the third son of Waldorf, 2nd Viscount Astor and Nancy, his irrepressible wife, a Virginian born and bred, who was the first woman Member to sit in the House of Commons. He did not consider Bruern particularly grand; rather modest if anything compared to Cliveden where he grew up, but nevertheless in Bruern’s heyday there were eleven household staff and thirteen men in the woods, the carpenter’s shop, the garage and the gardens. There was an estate cricket team and an estate club in the Abbey courtyard. By his death the horses had long since left the Stable Yard, although the stables (the present day Aintree and Newmarket) still existed, immensely high ceilinged, with cream tiled walls and blue stone cobbled floors. Between them, in Samuda’s day, was the carriage house, now Sandown, and above that, the hayloft (Cheltenham). Epsom and Goodwood housed the groom and the cowman, and Saratoga the cow. Part of Aintree was used as a bothy – a dormitory and kitchen for bachelor gardeners, with an outdoor privy tucked away behind the archway entrance to the walled garden, then the source of cut flowers and vegetable for the house. A short distance from the Stable Yard were the outbuildings. Shipton was converted from an old stone barn, which housed tractors in one half and the Bruern electrical sub-station in the other, and the Laundry, Shop and Games Room were conjured from a long low line of sheds. Cope, the most ancient of all the buildings, had been a mill for centuries since monastic times; it was near collapse with a tree growing out of one wall when work started on it in 1999, although the mill wheel, half buried, was still in place. After three feet of earth had been excavated, the full six foot diameter of the mill wheel stood proud, and the old stone threshing floor was revealed. Having been quarried long before the technology existed to saw stone into slabs, the huge boulders had been bedded into the earth and their upper surface painstakingly chiselled flat. The stream which once turned the mill wheel had to be piped underground from the weir to the bridge outside the Games Room; from there, it makes its way under the road, through the park to the monastic fishpond, and thence to the Evenlode and the Thames, as it has been doing since the 12th century. To find out more about Bruern Holiday Cottages, please visit their website at www.bruern.co.uk If you like the idea of a historic cottage with character, email us your requirements and we'll try to find a cottage to suit you.
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Hillside
Croft
Old
School Cottage (sleeps 4) is an 18th century
brick and flint cottage on the edge of a quiet conservation
village bordering Thetford Forest, close to the Norfolk/Suffolk/Cambs
borders. Old School Cottage has been renovated to a very
high standard and has a wealth of beams and other period
features. A pretty, south-facing and enclosed 'cottage'
garden features a patio, garden furniture and barbecue.
There is off-road parking for 2 cars. The cottage has a
sitting room with an open fire, dining room, kitchen, bathroom/wc
(shower over bath), double bedroom (5' bed) with connecting
door to a twin bedroom; each bedroom can be accessed by
a separate staircase. Anyone familiar with this part
of England will appreciate the wealth of historical buildings
and market towns. Visiting is like stepping back in
time, with ancient villages, churches and charming, gentle
people. This
is an example of England at its rural best; England
as we would wish to remember it. View details in the
menu on the left under Suffolk. Telephone: 01953 498277
or 
18th
Century Cottage in Nottinghamshire - Robin Hood Country.
Wesley Cottage in Oxton, near Southwell, sleeps 4
people comfortably in an 18th Century beamed cottage with
two en-suite bedrooms and a large garden. It's child
and pet friendly. Ideal for visits to Sherwood Forest, Nottingham
Castle, Clumber Park and Newstead Abbey. Robin Hood
Festival is at the end of July, with jousting, archery,
performances.
Open fire in lounge of Home Farm, in Cheddar, Somerset, sleeps 2 - 7, Tel: 01934 842 078
