The Newt in Somerset, Hadspen, Castle Cary, Somerset
If you want to go to The Newt in Somerset you’ll need to purchase Garden Membership in advance, then you can go there as many times as you like during the year. This place has really got chins wagging everywhere following the transformation of the former Hadspen House and estate, home to the Hobhouse family for two centuries. Go there and you’ll see why.
You’ll also find there’s more to do than you thought you could on a country estate in the middle of Somerset, but that’s all part of the charm – The Newt is full of very pleasant surprises, but they don’t shout out about them. It’s all understated, kind of less-is-more.
Have a stroll around the gardens – there’s a kitchen garden, a fragrance garden, a greenhouse, lakes and a walled parabola where an apple tree maze is growing well. If you’re early birds have breakfast at The Garden Café; otherwise come for lunch in the Botanical Rooms. On a hot summer’s day a stop off at the Cyder Bar is a welcome treat; likewise a pause at the Gelateria. Browse the House and garden Shop, pile your baskets high with goodies from the Farm Shop, watch an Apple pressing Demonstration, and if you’re a group looking for an activity, book a Garden Tour or a truly immersive History of Gardening Tour; around it off with private dining in the atmospheric vaulted cellar where there’s room for up to 16 people. One thing you have to do is the tree top walk on The Viper in the Deer Park – that’s something else!
What’s really important at The Newt in Somerset is that they’re huge on the whole estate to plate ethos; everything, absolutely everything that goes into the food here comes from the estate or from local suppliers, whether it’s grown, raised foraged, distilled or baked on site or within a few miles. Dine in the Botanical Rooms, where every plate features something from the gardens or estate, it Meat is raised on the estate, vegetables are grown in the garden, even the wood it’s all cooked on is from the estate woodlands. We like that.
Check the website for the latest opening times
T: 01963 577700 All information correct at the time of writing