The Victorian Suite
The Victorian Suite is a time capsule within a time capsule. Here, understated 19th-century glamour thrives alongside modern luxuries like a roll-top bath and [decadently comfortable double bed]. Set across two floors, the apartment boasts an unusual upside-down configuration, with the bedroom on the lower level. Perfect, we think, for a couple's retreat.
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The inspiration
Our hotel has hosted many characters throughout its 800-year history, ranging from shady royal spies to professional roller skaters. The 1800s, however, were particularly special. It was during this metamorphic century that Castle Lodge hosted a succession of scientific luminaries.
The first, Charles Cardale Babington, studied at Cambridge with Charles Darwin and became one of the leading botanists of his day. He was followed by Dr Charles Badham, the physician who first identified the symptoms of bronchitis.
Finally, in 1818, Mary McGhie moved in. McGhie was born to a freed slave in the West Indies – but wasn't herself granted free status until her 20th year. On moving to England, she studied under eminent science writer Jane Marcet before becoming a noted amateur botanist in her own right.
References to these residents abound throughout the apartment. The plush textured wallpaper, for instance, sports a stylised palm – a nod to McGhie's heritage, as well as her and Babington's shared profession. Even the light fixtures look like pretty, opaque glass flowers.
The crowning feature
The Victorian Suite is a study of refined, 19th-century opulence. There's that sweet little window seat – the kind of place, perhaps, where one of our gifted former residents would have caught up on their reading. And the chaise longue – hand-picked for the period, as well as its appeal.But our favourite feature is perhaps the most conspicuous. It's that elegant, winding staircase that splits the suite in two and transforms it from something beautiful into something extraordinary. Swoon.