Exclusive Stories - Lainston House

The name Lainston House itself opens up stories of love, friendship and scandal that have always been part of this estate. “Lainston” comes from the Old English “Leofwine’s tun” - the enclosure of a dear friend - a name recorded since before the 12th century. Beyond the literal translation, an old friend is someone you cherish, who knows you intimately and can keep your secrets. King Charles II reportedly visited the estate with his mistress, Louise de Kérouaille - rather more than friends in this case, and we suspect not so secretive either!

And with friendship often comes a little bit of whispered gossip, General Manager Steve lifts the lid on the scandal that made history. In August 1744, Elizabeth Chudleigh, a maid of honour to the Princess of Wales, was secretly married in our private chapel to naval officer Augustus Hervey. It was kept a secret so she could keep her position at court. The marriage, and Chudleigh’s later second marriage to a Duke, became the centre of one of the 18th century’s most notorious bigamy trials, heard before the House of Lords in 1776. After the Duke's death and her conviction as a bigamist, Chudleigh spent her fortune travelling all around Europe, and we honour her wonderfully scandalous chapter at Lainston House by naming one of our best suites after her. 

Guests since have included Presidents (George Bush stayed whilst fishing the River Test), Prime Ministers, and Lords, all treated with the same friendly manner as anyone else who checks in. Over the years we have become a place of reunion between family and friends, gathering to catch up over afternoon tea or celebrate special occasions. Here, both the people and place feel like an old friend you cherish, trust and can share a secret or two with.

Provenance is practically baked into the experience here, not just a line we use for marketing spin. The walled kitchen garden and orchards produce over a ton of fruit and veg a year, including around 800kg of apples that we’ve bottled for breakfast juices, and we've now just started making our own apple liqueur too. You'll often find surplus treats at reception encouraging a charitable donation from our guests to take as they depart. And what we don’t grow ourselves, mostly comes from suppliers within 25 miles - we’re obsessed about keeping things local. That produce shapes the menus directly: dishes at The Avenue and The Wellhouse change with what’s ready in the garden that week, and The Wellhouse’s entire approach to fire cooking traces back to a clay oven built on the estate around 15 years ago by Tom Gozney, before he founded his own oven company.

We pass the same thinking on to guests through Season, our cookery school. Home to one of the biggest outdoor cookery school set-ups in the UK, our Big Green Egg and Gozney classes take guests into the garden to pick fresh ingredients to use as part of the experience, whether it's hot chillis or classic herbs to be used in a marinade.

And the meaning of homegrown goes beyond the produce. From Season cookery school's facilities, we also run our Chefs' Academy. Training that runs from complete beginner through to working professional, inspiring the next generation of homegrown chefs to enter the kitchen.

Sharing what we have with the local community isn’t new. In the 1930s, then-owner Samuel Bostock gave Sparsholt Cricket Club a 999-year lease on land at Locks Lane, and around the same time let out a plot nearby for a wartime vegetable patch, nicknamed the “Patriotic Potato Patch” by the Women’s Institute who ran it. Being a good neighbour also shapes who we do business with, working with a closeknit group of Hampshire farms, growers and producers we’ve always shared this land with. That instinct to be a good neighbour continues today through who we work with and how we support the local community.

We work with a closeknit group of Hampshire farms, growers and artisan producers we’ve always shared this land with. We invite the local community to tour our kitchen gardens with our lead gardener, with all donations going to our local charity of the year. And we also work with educational charity, Prept Foundation. Each year Exclusive Collection funds running sessions at Lainston House to help kids from local schools learn skills and experience opportunities through cooking and hospitality.

Having the neighbours over is something we really look to encourage. Whether it's popping in for drink overlooking the stunning terrace on a summer's evening, or coming along for one of our live music events or outdoor cinema nights. Our doors are always open and welcoming to the fabulous community around us.