Ever fancied waking up in a 12th century castle, a former dean’s residence or the spot where King Henry VIII wooed Jane Seymour? You can. Read on to discover some of the ‘oldest beds’ in Britain.
The Old Deanery, Ripon
Located across the road from Ripon Cathedral, with fine views of its soaring façade, this beautiful stone building is the former home of the cathedral deans. Dating back to 1625 and blessed with character and period detail, it still has its impressive original oak staircase and is full of individual quirks, like the gently sloping floorboards and thick-walled window seats. There are just eleven rooms altogether, each one totally individual. Live the life of a cathedral dean for a day. (Theolddeanery.co.uk; from £100)
Grays Court, York
Just a short cobbled-street’s walk from York Minister, this wonderful hotel was the first official residence for the treasurers of the minster, commissioned by the first Norman Archbishop of York, Ealdred. With part of it dating back to 1080, it’s possibly the oldest continuously occupied house in the UK and has the only private access to York’s city walls, which surround the edge of its lovely gardens. Inside it’s all luxury boutique hotel and beautiful design, just what you’d expect from a building that was owned by royalty when the treasurers moved out in the 16th century. It was given as a gift by King Edward VI to the Duke of Somerset and has been voted Visit York Hotel of the Year for the last three years. (Grayscourtyork.com; from £200)
Littlecote House, Berkshire
Famously associated with royalty and political intrigue, it was here that Henry VIII wooed Jane Seymour, in the house that her grandmother lived in. A 16th century Tudor manor, it has also hosted the likes of Elizabeth I, James I, Charles II and William of Orange. The D-Day landings were planned within these very walls, which also hide a secret passage behind the library bookcases. There’s a Roman villa in the grounds, which also offer a putting green, tennis and bowling courts. And, like any self-respecting 16th century building, several rooms are said to be haunted with the ghosts of former residents. You can even bring some history home with you; nearby Hungerford is famous for its antique shops. (Warnerleisurehotels.co.uk)
Tulloch Castle, Dingwall Ross-Shire
Wake up in a four-poster bed in a 12th century highland castle. Overlooking Cromarty Firth and the Black Isle, close to the ancient town of Dingwall, the former home of the Bains and Davidsons has been beautifully restored as a 22-bedroom hotel. Wander through the 250-year-old panelled Great Hall, admire original period fireplaces and ceilings, eat in The Turrets Restaurant and after you’ve finished being Laird of the Castle, explore the nearby Cairngorms National Park. There’s easy access to Inverness and the coast is just a six-minute drive away. (Part of the Bespoke Hotel Group, Bespokehotels.com/tullochcastlehotel; from £127)
Billesley Manor, Stratford upon Avon
The manor house of Billesley can be traced back to 705AD and was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. It’s said that William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in the 8th century church in the grounds in 1582, and that his granddaughter also was married here. The charming hotel is a warren of twisting corridors and winding staircases, there’s a priest hole, grand stone fireplaces and an imposing Great Hall which hosts the morning breakfast buffet, a drawing room to take morning coffee and a library that Shakespeare purportedly visited. After its 17th-century heyday, the manor fell into disrepair, was refurbished in the early 20th century and has been a hotel for the last 50 years. (Billesleymanor.com)
Stonefield Castle, Mull of Kintyre
The 19th-century baronial home of the Campbell family (pictured top of the page) is set in 60 acres of woodland gardens and boasts a famous collection of Himalayan rhododendrons. From the wall-mounted stag’s head in the entrance hallway, enjoy one finely proportioned room after another, from drawing room to library and bar, into a long lounge with crackling open fire. Deep window seats look out to front and back gardens leading down to the broad expanse of Loch Fyne. It’s just two miles from the idyllic fishing village of Tarbert, one of the most attractive villages on the Mull of Kintyre peninsula. (Part of the Bespoke Hotel Group, Bespokehotels.com/stonefieldcastle; from £130)
The Midland Hotel, Bradford
Love the glamour of the old railways, with their puffing steam trains and waving white hankies on the platform? You’ll love The Midland Hotel in Bradford, a throw-back to the heyday of railway hotels and dating from 1885. It still has many of its attractive Victorian features, including grand foyer, glittering chandeliers and old-world appeal – and obviously it’s conveniently placed for transport, right beside the train station. It’s hosted the great and the good over the years, among them Laurel and Hardy, The Beatles and George Formby. It also attracted quite a lot of publicity when the Shakespearean actor Sir Henry Irving died on the main staircase, following a performance at the nearby Theatre Royal. He was attended to by his manager, no less famous a personage, Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula. (Peelhotels.co.uk/Midland-Hotel; from £70)
Oatlands Park, Surrey
Overlooking Weybridge’s Broadwater Lake, this was once the site of Henry VIII’s grand Tudor palace which he had redesigned for Anne of Cleeves – Elizabeth I, James I and Charles I also spent time here. Rebuilt as a Gothic mansion in the 18th century, it has been a hotel since 1856, and has welcomed several notable guests over the years including the poet Edward Lear and writer Emile Zola. On 10 acres of gardens and wooded parkland, the hotel has 144 rooms and still sits close to royalty – Windsor Castle is just down the road. (Oatlands-Park-Hotel; from £72)
Buxton Crescent, Peak District
The 5th Duke of Devonshire’s fashionable 18th century Georgian crescent is home to the newest ‘old’ hotel on our list, opening later this year for the first time. The 81-room, five-star hotel, with renovated Assembly Rooms and rooftop pool, has a thermal spa built on the site of the original Roman Baths, situated over the main mineral water spring. A medieval place of pilgrimage and fashionable spa town in the 1700s, Buxton has one of only two sets of warm springs developed by the Romans in the UK – the other is at Bath. (Buxtoncrescent.com; from £155)
Mandarin Oriental, London
Once the 19th century Hyde Park Court and Club, these days the 138 former bachelor flats, (along with the bachelors’ drawing, dining, billiard and smoking rooms) have been transformed into a very swish five-star hotel. Bette Davis, Cary Grant, Elizabeth Taylor and Gandhi have all stayed here, royalty has its own entrance opposite Hyde Park and Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret had dance lessons here as young girls. The Sultan of Zanzibar brought 12 goats to stay with him on his visit in 1929 and Rudolph Valentino stopped traffic when he stepped out on to the balcony to wave to several thousand screaming women on the footpath outside. Winston Churchill took refuge here during the Second World War and soldiers on leave from the trenches in World War 1 were given beds in ballroom if they had nowhere else to go. (MandarinOriental.com/London; from £740)
A version of this article was published in The Scotsman in summer 2020
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