Stately stays: 5 castles, country estates and follies to bed straight down in throughout your next UK visit

Period dramas have a lot to answer for. Not only do they feature incredible costumes that are enough to create any woman dream about being transported back to the times of corsets, but they also showcase many of the most delightful stately homes ever built, in which dashing young men stride about in breeches, with a wagging hunting dog by their side.

Consequently, if you’re done looking into Anthony Bridgerton or Matthew Crawley, then absorb the sights by checking into among these centuries-old abodes…

If you’ve always wished to stay static in the impressive Hampshire estate that doubles as Downton Abbey in the hit Television show, then we have very good news and bad information. Although the primary house is open for the public to go to, it isn’t open up for overnight guests. However, there are two homes on the lands that tourists can check directly into.

About 175 years old, Grotto Lodge is a unique circular cottage in the estate grounds. Created by well known British architect Thomas Allom, who also done the UK’s Houses of Parliament, it features two dual bedrooms, two bathrooms, a full time income room and a home, with common English interiors throughout.

Also available may be the London Lodge situated at the access to the Highclere Castle Estate, that was built in the 18th century by the initially Earl of Carnarvon, and marks the formal entry to the estate. It has got one bedroom, a kitchen and a living room.

A brief overview: Highclere Castle was built in 1679, although the estate can be dated returning beyond 749, and is the country chair of the Earl of Carnarvon. The house features an Egyptian exhibition, in honour of the 5th Earl, who famously accompanied archaeologist Howard Carter on his discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922. The park where the estate is, possesses been designated a niche site of Special Scientific Fascination.

Grotto Lodge costs £1,600 ($2,220) for a three-nights stay; check-in on Fridays only. London Lodge costs £850 for a two-nights stay for two people; www.highclerecastle.co.uk

As befitting a good castle in the wilds of Ayrshire, if Glenapp’s walls could speak, they would have plenty to share.

Finished in 1870, that now has penthouse apartments and suites obtainable, and guests can decide on garden or sea views that look out around to Ireland’s Isle of Arran in a clear day.

There’s as well the four-room, 370-square-metre penthouse apartment, which offers opinions of Ailsa Craig island, the Isle of Arran and the Mull of Kintyre. In this article you’ll have an exclusive chef and personal butler, as well as a sauna and personal elevator. Plus, there’s a spiral natural stone staircase up to the castle turrets - simply perfect for night-time star-gazing.

A brief overview: Created by famed Scottish architect David Bryce, the castle is known as a renowned exemplory case of the Scottish Baronial design of architecture. It had been once residence to pioneering aviator Elsie Mackay, who on March 13, 1928 lay out with her co-pilot Raymond Hinchcliffe to cross the Atlantic in a single-engine monoplane, and both had been never seen again.

Prices will come to be updated after the castle reopens in March 2021; www.glenappcastle.com

Built simply by Norman Knight Adam de Rupe found in the 12th century, Roch Castle honours it is rich record by naming its bedrooms after defining moments in its past. Stay static in the one-bed Ap Gruffydd bedroom - named for the “Previous Innovator”, the Prince of Wales from 1258 until 1282; the De Rupe, the best room in the house named because of its founder; or the Lucy Walter in the higher turrets. The Nest, positioned in a circular turret, also makes for a unique stay.

One-and-a-half-metre-thick walls ensure you won’t be disturbed throughout your stay, and the 4th floor viewing program provides unparalleled views of Skomer Island, St David’s Peninsula on the Celtic Sea and the rolling Preseli Hills.

A brief overview: The Lucy Walter place is known as for an inhabitant who down the road became a courtesan of Charles II, and gave birth to James, 1st Duke of Monmouth. During the English Civil Battle of 1642 to 1651, the castle evolved hands twice, causing the Walter family members to flee when it had been captured for another period by the Parliamentary Forces and burned in 1644.

Hotel prices will be updated in March 2021, and available to guests with a vaccination card; www.rochcastle.com

Valentine’s Day could be over for this year, but romance will easily be reignited with a stay for just two on this quaint tower, deep on the forests of County Straight down, Northern Ireland.

"Enchanting" may be the word often used to describe this three-storey natural stone folly in the woods of the Clandeboye Estate, which was built by the 5th Baron of Dufferin and Claneboye and called for his mom, Helen.

With a roaring start fire in the sitting bedroom, circular stone staircases and impressive Scottish Baronial architecture, there’s also a examining bedroom and views of the Welsh mountains, Scottish shoreline and the Isle of Man from the roof terrace.

A brief history: The Baron used the tower to accommodate his and his mother’s poetry. He as well commissioned functions by famous poets over the years, incorporating Helen’s Tower by Lord Alfred Tennyson, the Poet Laureate during Queen Victoria's reign.

The Tower sleeps two and is designed for adults only; from £292 for just two nights; bookings can only be produced through the Irish Landmark Trust; www.irishlandmark.com

This Italianate mansion in the county of Buckinghamshire includes a plethora of accommodation options, which includes staying in the key house or taking a cottage on the estate.

With grounds that slope down to the River Thames, you’ll be wandering in the footsteps of a former Prince of Wales, two Dukes and an Earl who have all called it home through the years. And if you like a aspect helping of intrigue with your stately stay, you will be interested to know the house played a component in the UK’s notorious Profumo political scandal of the 1960s, with John Profumo and Christin Keeler getting together with at a summer months party there.

There are a variety of rooms and suites where to stay, and several have traditional open fireplaces with views of the courtyard and gardens.

A brief overview: More than the centuries, Cliveden has elicited starkly unique reactions. Lady Frederick Cavendish waxed lyrical about the house in 1863, authoring: “When one lives in Paradise, how hard it must be to ascend in heart and mind to Heaven.” Meanwhile, British politician Harold Nicholson decried in 1936: “To live here, would be like living on the stage of the Scala theatre found in Milan.”

The existing house was designed in 1851, replacing the initial, which have been destroyed by fire. Acquired in 1893 by the American millionaire William Waldorf Astor, his son 2nd Viscount Astor and his wife Nancy Langhorne entertained famous brands Charlie Chaplin, Winston Churchill, Joseph Kennedy, George Bernard Shaw, Mahatma Gandhi, Franklin D Roosevelt, Lawrence of Arabia, Rudyard Kipling and even more at the house.