Gill Oliver discovers the delights of Suffolk’s Bruisyard Hall which has recently had a £1.5m refurbishment

I prefer eating to cooking, so was amazed that being handed a basket of organic veg and told to get on with it turned out to be so much fun.

To be fair, this was no ordinary kitchen.We were chopping, frying and roasting under the watchful eye of top chef David Newstead in the sumptuous surroundings of Bruisyard Hall.

The 700-year-old manor house in deepest, darkest Suffolk can be hired for long weekends or mid-week to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries or any other excuse you can invent to lord it up.

The Rous family, who have owned the hall for 400 years, splashed out on a £1.5m refurbishment earlier this year and it shows. Ed Sheeran and TV presenter Kirsty Allsopp are among the celebrities who’ve stayed there, not least because it’s the perfect rural hideaway.

As a former Abbey built in 1354, Bruisyard Hall has tons of quirky features including a sun dial, sweeping oak staircases, priest hole and stunning 17th-century converted barn.

Throw in gorgeous views and 600 acres of grounds to stroll in and it’s impossible not feel your shoulders relax within minutes of arriving.

But back to the kitchen, where executive chef of Bruisyard’s in-house catering firm Heathcote & Hare David Newstead was supervising our culinary efforts.

After splitting our 11-strong house party into three groups, he set a Ready Steady Cook-style challenge, teaching a few tricks of the trade along the way. Our reward was tucking into a delicious lunch in the splendid setting of the barn’s vaulted hall, a firm favourite with wedding parties.

David, who trained at The Dorchester and has worked at the Kensington Marriott and in Germany, Riyadh, Antigua and Moscow, is not only a genius in the kitchen but a thoroughly decent bloke.

There’s plenty of room for house parties – the main house sleeps 20, with a mix of 10 double and twin bedrooms and the barn can accommodate another four plus there are plenty of roll-away beds and cots for babies or children.

Better still, there’s no queue for the bathroom, as there are nine to choose from.

Luxury touches include Egyptian cotton sheets, towels, bathrobes and complimentary White Company toiletries.

The Drawing Room is very Downton Abbey, with a roaring fire and plump sofas but there’s also a games room and quirky attic room with flatscreen TV and Austin Powers-style bar.

The enormous country-style kitchen is ideal for nursing hangovers and has everything you need for self-catering, including a range cooker, two fridges, cavernous freezer, two dishwashers and bucket-loads of cutlery and crockery.

Keen cooks can bring their own ingredients and rustle up a feast, or opt to put their feet up and arrange for Heathcote & Hare to take the strain.

The vast estate is an ideal place to try out clay-pigeon shooting, horse riding, trout fishing or archery, while non-outdoorsy types can order-in a murder mystery, yoga or spa therapy.

My train journey there took about four hours – from Oxford to Paddington, then from Liverpool Street Station to Ipswich, followed by a local train to the Saxmundham village and a short taxi ride to the hall.

So the wine tasting on my first night with Norfolk-based Bijou wine merchants, followed by a BBQ went down a treat.

Oxford Mail:

  • The glamorous dining room sits 20

Saturday got off to a flying start with a delicious fry-up and after our cook-off contest, we made the 20-minute journey to the pretty coastal town of Southwold with its pastel beach huts and sandy beach.

Drawn by the aroma of malt, we took a guided tour around the fascinating Adnams Brewery, and rounded off with a beer tasting session.

True to the country house party theme, that evening at Bruisyard we sipped pre-dinner glasses of bubbly and nibbled melt-in-the-mouth canapes before tucking into three sumptuous courses.

After kicking off with Danish pastries, tea and coffee, our final morning was taken up with a river cruise from Ipswich Marina, which is about 20 miles away.

We were gently propelled down the River Orwell to the Port of Felixstowe and back again aboard solid 1940s vintage cruiser the Lady Florence. Charters start from £180 in the week, or £15 per person for up to 12 passengers at a time.

Our captain welcomed us with a Champagne brunch of hash browns, bacon, egg, sausage, beans and toast.

Back on dry land, we realised it was suddenly time to go home.

And that’s the thing that really struck me about Bruisyard. It may be just a few hours from Oxford but it’s a million miles away from the stresses of everyday life.

FACT FILE
Bruisyard Hall in Suffolk (www.bruisyardhall.com or 01728 639000), is available at £3,500 for a three-night stay (Fri-Sun) or from £1,250 per night for Mon–Thurs.
In-house caterers Heathcote and Hare www.heathcoteandhare.com. Travel with Abellio Greater Anglia (www.abelliogreateranglia.co.uk