The first things you’ll notice on a stay at Gotten Manor are the individual touches: fresh flowers, fluffy bathrobes, candles, crisp white sheets and flowing muslin drapes that decorate the huge claw foot iron baths which intrude into the rooms. It’s all very simple, uncluttered and yet Caroline Gurney-Champion has fashioned a wonderfully atmospheric environment in her hideaway house that sits in a sheltered hollow at the foot of St Catherine’s Down in south Wight.
Everything here spells romance. Couples in the first flush of romance come to Gotten and get engaged, celebrate an anniversary or simply enjoy each other’s company. They describe it variously as “bliss,” “perfect”, or “paradise” and you can understand their point. Surrounded by open farmland with an old woodland to one side (home to bats, badgers and all manner of wildlife), Gotten Manor is a peaceful, private retreat. “We’re absolutely in the middle of nowhere,” says Caroline.
There are two rooms for bed and breakfast stays in the Old House, a separate part of the Manor complex which can trace its history back to Domesday times. These have been fashioned from reclaimed timbers and traditional materials, their walls decorated with lime wash in soft pastels and floors laid with wood planks. Guests breakfast in a beautiful dining room, once the farm creamery, on local organic and free range fare and can taste Caroline’s astonishing collection of homemade jams. It couldn’t be more relaxing.
Across the way, old stone farm buildings – the Cart House and the Milk House – provide attractive self-catering accommodation for families and friends. In common with the Old House, these have been converted with tremendous flair, using techniques to make them ecologically sound. “Why ever not,” said Caroline, “I was brought up to care and conserve. It is common sense to want to protect the environment – and so easy to make an effort.”
