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The
Miller's Barn at Bolebroke Watermill has now
transformed into unusual and superior quality B &
B, which has charmed guests for the past 15 years. Bolebroke Mill won awards for "Fairy Story Hotel
of the Year - World-Wide", (Foreman Houghton
Publications 2002), number one in the "World's Most
Romantic Hotels", (Observer 2000) and is often featured
on TV, radio and in the press. The accommodation
has been listed as Premier Selected and Highly
Acclaimed in leading guide books and is
recommended by Which? The Good Hotel Guide 2003 and
Michelin (1993).
First recorded in 1086 in William the Conqueror's
Domesday Book, corn continued to be ground on the
property till 1948. The idyllic setting of
woodland, meadows and millpond, tucked away at the
end of a winding country lane, evokes a sense of
centuries past. In 1994 its unspoilt charm served
as the romantic backdrop for the filming of
Carrington, starring Emma Thompson and Jonathan
Price.
The
Elizabethan Miller's Barn has been lovingly
adapted to form a charmingly unusual B & B with
accommodation of great rustic character. All the
buildings are listed Grade II and in an area of
'Outstanding Natural Beauty', classified by The
Countryside Agency.
The Miller's Barn
For those seeking romance, the heavily beamed,
rustic barn is the place to stay. Here, there are
3 double en-suite rooms of which two have 4 poster
beds - the Honeymooners' Hayloft and the Dovesnest.
Downstairs, the Barn has its own charming lounge
with doors opening onto a private patio. All the
doors and some ceilings are low as would be
expected in an ancient country building.
All
3 rooms have en suite bathrooms including a shower
over the bath. The rooms are centrally heated and
modern facilities are discreetly present such as
colour TV, hairdryers, radio alarm clocks and tea
and coffee sets. Breakfast is at nearby Bolebroke
Castle which was Henry VIII's hunting lodge and
from where he courted Anne Boleyn. Lunch and
dinner may be taken at several nearby country
style pubs which have good restaurants. Tea rooms
are within 1 -3 miles where light lunches are also
served.
Brief History
The Mill is situated
approx. 1 mile north of Hartfield Church, which
was rebuilt of stone circa 1263 on the site of a
much earlier Saxon church. To the west of the mill
approximately 600 yards, is a Roman road running
alongside Bolebroke Castle, circa 1300.
Though the mill was first recorded in the Domesday
Book in 1086 AD, it existed several hundred years
before in Roman times and continued in daily use
right up until after the Second World War. The Atherfold family were millers here from 1602 till
the mid 1880s and George Atherfold's tombstone can
be seen in the church grounds. The Barker family
then ran the mill till the wheels finally stopped
turning in 1948.
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