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.

By Victoria Millington

References to the Lodge's talented resident scientists 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.