The Area
Where we send our own guests
The Old Stables sits at Great Elm, between Frome and the Mendip Hills. This isn't a tourist-board list. It's where we eat, walk and take our friends.
Frome
Regularly voted one of the best places to live, and the reason a lot of people end up moving here. Cobbled streets, independent shops, galleries, and a cultural calendar out of all proportion to its size. The Frome Independent Market takes over the town on the first Sunday of the month from March to December. There are general markets every Wednesday and Saturday.
Bistro Lotte is our go-to, a pocket of Paris that does an onion soup and steak frites worth the walk. The High Pavement does Moorish tapas Thursday to Saturday and needs booking well ahead. Rye Bakery has the best croissants in Somerset, with a second site at the station where Friday night pizza is a scene. Little Walcot, the Bath outpost, is the newest addition. Bar Lotte has live music most Wednesdays.
Mells & the river
You can walk to Mells and back from Somerleaze along the river, about fifty minutes each way. If that feels like too much, drive to Great Elm, park near the water and pick the path up from there. It runs past lost industrial relics the whole way.
Mells itself is a picture: St Andrew's church, a Lutyens-designed war memorial, and the Walled Garden with its plant nursery, rambling garden and outdoor café doing tea and pizza. The Talbot Inn is a medieval coaching inn with proper pub food and a Sunday roast worth planning around. Very dog friendly.
Bruton
A picture-postcard town that is essentially one high street, but worth exploring every side alley. Hauser & Wirth sits on a restored farm at the edge of it, with a Piet Oudolf garden that is reason enough on its own. Philo & Philo for antiques and design, Hole & Corner for craft.
Briar is our personal favourite: farm to table, Sam Lomas cooking seasonal West Country produce, a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Osip has a Michelin star and a green star, and is excellent but not for children. The Old Pharmacy is its more relaxed spin-off. Da Costa, at Hauser & Wirth, does wholesome Italian and a serious wine list. On the way, drive through Batcombe and stop at the Three Horseshoes, where Margot Henderson is executive chef.
Bath
One of England's most picturesque cities and an easy day out. The Roman Baths are the big one and want booking early. Climb the Abbey tower for the view, walk the Royal Crescent and the Circus, then Royal Victoria Park and its botanical gardens. The Holburne and the American Museum are both outstanding.
Eat at The Scallop Shell for inexpensive seafood, Landrace for a pastry or a late lunch upstairs, Beckford Bottle Shop for a bistro dinner and a bottle to take away. Colonna & Small's for coffee. Finish at Thermae Bath Spa, in the naturally warm mineral water, which also wants booking ahead.
Wells & Glastonbury
England's smallest city is a half-day, best combined with Glastonbury. Start at Wells Cathedral for the scissor arches, the Chapter House and the medieval clock. Then the Bishop's Palace with its moat and gardens, lunch at Root, and Vicar's Close, the oldest residential street in Europe.
Glastonbury is another country. Climb the Tor for the view over the Levels, then the Chalice Well at its foot, and the Abbey ruins. Food is thin on the ground: The Queen of Cups is the best of it, modern Middle Eastern in a former coaching inn. Book ahead.
Walks & water
The river walk to Mells is the one everyone does. Cley Hill, near Longleat, is a short climb with a big reward, and children and dogs love it: pack a picnic and a raincoat. Shearwater Lake is beautiful walking and a well-known spot for a cold dip. Stourhead, fifteen minutes away, is an eighteenth-century landscape garden of glacial lakes, temples and follies, and is at its best in autumn.
There is a safe, level cycle path about a mile from the house that runs for something like fifty miles. Frome Canoe Club will put you on the water. For a wet afternoon: Frome Boulder Rooms, the Welshmill pump track, or Longleat Safari Park a little further out.
Country pubs
The Talbot Inn at Mells, medieval and walkable along the river. The Bath Arms at Horningsham, same management, sitting inside the Longleat estate in a very beautiful village. The Bradley Hare at Maiden Bradley, recently redone by one of the ex-Soho House designers. The Three Horseshoes at Batcombe, already talked about as one of the best pubs anywhere.
Most of these need booking on a Friday or Saturday. Tell us what you fancy when you enquire and we will point you at the right one.
Enquire About The Old Stables
From £350 a night · Sleeps 6–8 · Available year-round