Milden Hall B&B Review
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This 16th century farmhouse is impressive, both from outside and within. It's located at the end of a long driveway, surrounded by wildflower meadows, a walled garden and hedged countryside. Despite being fifth-generation owned -- the rooms are full of period furniture, paintings and tapestries -- it doesn't feel too stuffy.
We stayed in the Gallery room, a very large twin room with high ceilings and walls covered in antique Suffolk maps, with great views of the walled garden and wildflower meadows. During our stay we had the run of the place, but had there been other guests there would have been a queue for the bathroom, as there's only one to share between the occupants of the two other period rooms (one twin, the other a large family room). This is apparently down to it being a listed building, with restrictions on changing the character of the rooms.
Breakfast was served in the big sunny living room, where there's a huge carbon-neutral wood burner fuelled by coppiced wood from the farm's hedgerows -- the idea here being that the wood used to fuel the stove sucked out the same amount of carbon while alive as the amount emitted in its burning. We had warm, homemade bread, delicious local fruit compote with yoghurt, followed by free-range eggs and home-grown sausages from the farm.
Owner Juliet Hawkins is a passionate ecologist and composts or recycles much of the waste generated. She's even put together files containing suggestions on how to keep the kids occupied, including nature trails and scavenge hunts around the estate. There's plenty to do for adults, too -- circular walks and bike rides around the estate, boating down the river Stour, and it's just a few miles to the pretty historical town of Lavenham. Bikes can be rented free of charge.
Even though the vast 16th century farmhouse is an energy black hole, the owners have done a lot to reduce its energy burn -- particularly by installing the carbon-neutral wood stove. Everything for breakfast is locally or homemade, and there's so many activities suggested for kids to get out and explore nature that it's a winner for a back-to-nature break. It's also a lovely place to stay, with the quietness of an old estate in beautiful countryside.
[box]Essentials: A single room costs from £35 per night and double/twin room costs from £60, including breakfast. Sudbury Suffolk Station is a short taxi ride from Milden Hall. Milden Hall, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 9NY, England.[/box]
Quality
Value
Ethics
Green
