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English Countryside Discovery: Eynesham Hall in Oxfordshire

I’ve always been enchanted with England.  First, with the images conjured up within the pages of my favorite childhood books, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Secret Garden, and The Hobbit, and later with even more fascinating imagery found in classic British literature, on television and in movies.

The idea of wet, green countryside dotted with manors, castles, and thatched roof cottages, tea time and The Royal Family was enchanting to a little American girl growing up in a small, farmer town in the Central Valley of California

Throw in magic, folklore, and legend (C.S. Lewis and Tolkien) and England, for me, has always been the stuff of imagination.

After a lifetime of dreaming about the country, and the different places I wanted to visit, it was surprising to find that when I finally ended up there, it actually lived up to my expectations.

Walking around London, Oxford, and Windsor and through the historic universities and castles… ducking into pubs and eating the occasional greasy English breakfast or grabbing a pint of cider. Romantic. Hearing all of the accents that had been dotted throughout the movies and television series I’d watched in my life…

England for me was just as charming (and rainy) as I had imagined.

But with all of the major attractions and sights that I saw during my first visit to England and London, the best experience was one that hadn’t been on any itinerary.  It happened due to a random wrong turn, out in the countryside on the way back to London from Oxford (we had gone completely off the GPS route).

My travel partner and I decided to take some side roads and follow them wherever they went, just for fun. We figured we’d GPS ourselves back on route after a while of getting lost.  And here’s what we found…

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Passing by a set of large looming gates that looked like they led to a private property, I felt a sudden urge to enter. I yelled ‘let’s see what’s down there!’ and we stumbled (or rolled along the gravel road in our rental car) up to the lovely Eynsham Hall.

It was just the sort of old building or hall you’d expect to find in 18th century England. Somewhere the Lords and Ladies of Downton Abbey would surely be quite comfortable.

We assumed, since it was already 8pm, that we’d most likely missed any opportunity to visit or tour the Hall. And then… we saw it. The sign.  It said…

‘Bar Open’

We couldn’t believe our luck. There was a bar in this enchanting old English Hall!

We entered to find the inside as lovely as the outside, with brocade tapestry drapes, old antique sofas, and shelves of dusty books. Walking through a few rooms full of such furnishings, led us to an elegant, yet cozy modern bar with a roaring fire (roaring fire not pictured, because the photo I took was fuzzy so the property sent me this one).

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Drinks were being served in posh bar-ware and the barmen, of course, were dressed for the occasion in suits and bow ties.

We took our first glasses of wine out to the decking to catch the still sinking sun as it set over the gardens and clinked our glasses to our luck in stumbling across such a gorgeous end of day drinking spot.

A few more drinks followed (though we moved inside due to the returning rain) and we took advantage of the free reign guests seemed to have of the entire building, poking into libraries, dining rooms, and extremely posh bathrooms.

The Hall had been booked out for a wedding the next day, so as we were getting ready to leave it was being flooded with dressed-to-the-hilt Londoners who were headed straight for the bar.

I loved the ambiance of this spot so much, I even tried to snag a room for the night (because…it gets better.. they have rooms!) but we were out of luck as the hotel was fully booked by wedding guests. C’est la vie!

We left Eynsham Hall, completely satisfied with our day out in Oxfordshire, and made a promise that if we ever plan to be back in the area, we’d book a room ahead of time in this magical place (they sometimes have rates as affordable as 78 pounds a night!).

It’s often the surprises that end up being the best parts of a trip.

 

 

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14 Comments

  1. Natalie

    What a fun and unexpected adventure! I love things you find by happenstance…..always a wonderful part of travel memories.

  2. Sasha

    Wow, this is stunning. I have never heard of this place either but I will surely visit now, looks gorgeous. Were the drinks pricey or average? Thansk for sharing!

  3. Kassie

    I love when this happens. The best hidden gems are always found by getting lost! This place looks absolutely amazing and I bet it would be a lovely backdrop for that wedding ?

  4. Clare

    It looks beautiful. I haven’t spent any time in oxfordshire but I would love to vist that place. I must put it on my list to visit when I am next down south 🙂

  5. Cori

    This is really making me want to rent a car when I’m in England this winter! Your trip looks amazing.

  6. Jan Michael De Guzman

    Sounds very interesting. i love this kind of trip to the country side. Really quiet and there are things to see that you do not expect see and it will just amaze you.

  7. Jillian Mchelle

    The way you present England in the beginning of the article is exactly how I’ve always imagined it as well…though I’ve never been. I’m glad it lived up to your expectations! I’ve never heard of Eynsham Hall before, but now I’ll have to check it out! Thanks!

  8. Lydia@LifeUntraveled

    What a beautiful place! Sometimes we discover the best places when we get lost and this one even had a bar!! 😉

  9. Brooke

    Jillian- hahah are you a C.S Lewis fan too? 🙂

  10. Brooke

    do it! The only way to stumble upon hidden gems is to drive around 🙂

  11. Brooke

    I agree-my dream now is to get married there even though I have never even wanted a wedding…!

  12. Brooke

    Cocktails were very pricey but the wine was not bad 🙂 Plus the views and ambiance can’t be beat. You can wander onto the veranda or into the gardens or sit by the fire in the posh bar. Or.. even go hang out on the antique sofas next to the bookshelves in the rooms outside the bar

  13. Janine Good

    Oxfordshire is such a lovely area of England. It wasn’t too far from where I was living and in fact I was getting flashbacks at the Eynsham Hall upon reading! 78 pounds is quite reasonable for a night stay!

  14. Kellyn

    Love this post. Love the Oxford area, the countryside, the historical locations is so amazing. England is certainly on the top of my bucket list.

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