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Gravetye Manor

For our twentieth wedding anniversary we celebrated with dinner and a night at Gravetye Manor, in the Sussex countryside near East Grinstead. It’s a ‘special occasion’ sort of place – much as we’d like to have stayed longer our pockets aren’t that deep!

We arrived mid-afternoon, mid-February, and took a stroll around the grounds before the sun went down…

Gravetye Manor, south lawns at sunset
Gravetye Manor, the south lawns at sunset

gravetye garden path

gravetye-garden-seedpods

in the garden at Gravetye

Gravetye kitchen garden at sunset
The walled kitchen garden at sunset

Our room was amazing. The house is Grade 1 listed – it was built in 1598 by Richard Infield and Katharine Compton, and on the website it states that ‘portraits of Richard and Katharine are carved in oak over the fireplace in one of the bedrooms’ – well, I think that was our room!

Gravetye bedroom fireplace

Gravetye fireplace in 'Magnolia' bedroom

There were beautiful mullioned windows looking South and East. The room is named for the big Magnolia tree just outside. Unfortunately we were there too early to see it in full bloom.

gravetye Magnolia bedroom south window
Looking South in the evening
Gravetye bedroom window in the morning
Looking out of one of the East-facing windows in the morning

Gravetye - Magnolia bedroom

We had dinner in the restaurant, of course – it has a Michelin star, so I suppose were expecting extraordinary things. It was lovely, but not quite the amazing event I was anticipating. I wonder if the pandemic has taken its toll on staff. Everyone was very polite but we got the impression the waiting staff were inexperienced, and with so many different people serving us there wasn’t much attempt at rapport with guests.

The Dining Room itself is spectacular, although it was the next morning in daylight that we really got to appreciate it.

gravetye-restaurant-panorama
Looking out onto the gardens from the restaurant at Gravetye
the roof at Gravetye Manor Restaurant
The restaurant roof is extraordinary

Breakfast at Gravetye Manor

The Dining Room and the basement rooms beneath were designed by Charles Knowles Architects and constructed only a few years ago. You can read all about the structure and the thinking behind it here.

Gravetye The Dining Room
Gravetye Manor – The Dining Room from outside

For the rest of our visit we just enjoyed exploring the rooms and gardens. We were lucky to have a bright, sunny morning, and we took a (muddy!) walk around the lake before heading off home. The whole place is magical. How we’d love to return some day!

Gravetye Manor - reception
The reception area

 

Sitting room at Gravetye
What a spectacular ceiling in this sitting room…
Another gorgeous room at Gravetye Manor
Another gorgeous room at Gravetye Manor

Gravetye - entrance hall

gravetye flowers sittingroom

gravetye manor fireplace

Gravetye - the way out to the garden

Gravetye summerhouse
One of the summerhouses

Gravetye - summer house

One of the lakes at Gravetye Manor

Lakeside walk at Gravetye Manor
Lovely lakeside walk

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2 Comments

  1. sarah jarvis sarah jarvis

    Happy Anniversary! Wowsers – 20 years just flown by . . .
    Gravetye looks gorgeous and not so far in age from Anne Of Cleves House – how appropriate! Lots of love, Sarah xx

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