Cool Place of the Day: Narborough Hall, Norfolk
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Your support makes all the difference.About six miles outside the Norfolk town of Swaffham, the elegant country house of Narborough Hall is the home of Joanne Merrison, who moved here a dozen years ago and spent a decade rescuing the grounds and gardens and opening it up to the public.
It's a beautiful, special place, with a lovely downstairs restaurant that cooks ingredients grown in the reinvigorated kitchen garden and five upstairs guest rooms that along with a couple of cottages in the grounds accommodate those who want to stay a bit longer.
The rooms are quirky and in keeping, with elegant antique furniture and big comfy beds; three have big bathrooms with baths and showers (one just has a very nice bath); two share a bathroom and are consequently that bit cheaper.
The vibe is one of a country house, but this is no country house hotel – more of a posh yet relaxed B&B and restaurant that just happens to inhabit a grand building amid remarkable grounds. Joanne is often around and you'll come across the chefs picking veg and herbs from the garden for your dinner that night. You can eat a lazy breakfast on the terrace, loaf about with the papers in the comfy sitting room or just stroll around the grounds, enjoying the beautiful borders in summer, following the path around the lake and checking out the estate's own cricket pitch.
All in all it's a blissful place to spend a long and lazy weekend – and is quite rightly a popular place for weddings. Like all such places, it can get pretty booked up during summer so book well in advance.
Cool Places is a new website from the creators of Rough Guides and Cool Camping, suggesting the best places to stay, eat, drink and shop in Britain (coolplaces.co.uk).
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