The Newt in Bruton gets bigger and better every-time I visit. This magnificent Georgian hotel and country estate in Somerset was awarded World’s Best Boutique Hotel in 2023. Which is precisely why it will cost you a pretty penny to stay here. The lavish rooms ooze rustic charm, whilst impeccable styling and premium fabrics provide all the modern luxury you’d expect to find. To top if off, you can visit the irresistible spa thats housed inside the honey-toned stone walls of the former cow and threshing barn, and unwind in it’s scenic indoor-outdoor infinity pool. Absolute bliss.
There’s more to the Newt than its award winning hotel and spa though, and whats more; you don’t need to be a hotel guest to visit the majority of The Newt.
Newt members (and their guests) can come visit the extensive gardens, interactive museums, and wander through the peaceful woodland where deer roam. Or you could tuck into something tasty in one of the stylish restaurants or cafe’s they have here. Which serves locally sourced produce, or fresh produce that’s grown right here on the land of this beautiful working estate.
Theres also a huge reimagined roman villa, a cyder cellar, a treetop walkway, and a delicious ice-cream parlour serving up the smoothest gelato in a variety of delicious flavours. This place really is something special, and its so vast that you’ll need more than a day to fully explore everything the Newt has on offer.
With that said, let’s take a more detailed look at some of the things you can get up to here.
In this article...
Where is The Newt and how do you get there?
Located amongst the rolling fields of the south Somerset countryside. You’ll find the Newt nestled between the two market towns of Castle Cary and Bruton. A place now known as the ‘Notting Hill of the South West’, and home to a few celebrities!
If you’re arriving here by train, the closest station is Castle Cary which is less than a 10 minute drive away. It’s not easily walkable though, so you will need a car or taxi to reach The Newt. Castle Cary has good connections with Great Western Rail trains running directly from London Paddington, Bristol and Exeter.
The Newt have also opened their very own trackside restaurant called The Creamery at this tiny station. Housed inside the fabulous old milk factory that was built in 1912, The Creamery feels like you’re stepping back in time. It’s on my list of places to visit!
If you’re travelling by car, you’ll want to come on the A303, then take the A359 and follow the directional signs towards Bruton. Or use postcode BA7 7NG and keep an eye out for signs as you get nearer.
As for parking, there is a large gravel carpark which has plenty of electric charging bays for anyone arriving with an EV.
Exploring the many gardens at The Newt
These beautiful gardens seem to constantly expand and evolve, forever becoming more impressive every time I visit. There are multiple different gardens to enjoy at The Newt, so I’ll break it down into a little overview of each one for you. Listed in no particular order, as you can wander around The Newt in any direction you fancy.
Jude and James tried to recreate this photo on their way in, which is taken 4 years apart!
Threshing Barn
The Threshing barn is where you’ll enter The Newt and collect your paper map (if needed). It’s also where you can book any additional activities if you haven’t already done so yourself via the Newt app.
The Threshing Barn will welcome you with an impressive flower arrangement, which hangs from the vaulted ceiling like a ginormous hanging basket. Changed to match the seasons, you’ll get to admire a new design on your next visit. On our recent visit it was a beautiful summery pink, yellow and lemon theme.
The Four Seasons Garden
This garden area is The Newt’s newest addition, which only opened earlier this year in spring 2024. As the name suggests, this garden consists of 4 different garden zones. Each one optimised to impress and flourish during one particular season of the year.
This garden area is a little further away from the entrance, and as it involves a bit of a walk it tends to be a bit quieter down here. In the Four Seasons Garden, you can expect to see a large newt shaped pond along with this unusual one where you can watch fish swim up in to the protruding vertical glass tank.
There’s also a quirky take-away cafe thats shaped like a super-sized green beehive, serving hot and cold drinks along with tasty nibbles and sweet treats. There are some toilets in this area too which have the most impressive basin I think i’ve ever seen! It a huge newt crawling up the wall which looks more like a piece of art.
As you continue your walk around the Four Seasons Garden, you’ll start to discover different water features, including a shallow pool of water which all the children were having lots of fun splashing about in. The perfect spot for them to cool down on a hot summers day.
The Avenue
Kept exclusively for hotel guests, The Avenue dates all the way back to the 17th century. It’s also the oldest remaining feature of the original formal garden here at The Newt. The trees have been replaced over the decades, but the original lines remain the same. We could only see this orchard looking area from a distance on our walk to The Four Seasons Garden.
Parabola & fowl house
Right at the heart of The Newt’s gardens, you’ll find the walled parabola. Which is where you need to come if you like apples! Known as the ‘D garden’ or ‘apple maze’ the parabola has 280 different cultivars of apples, each arranged by their county. It’s really impressive in here and a super beautiful area within The Newt.
From above the parabola makes a clear D shape, or an egg shape if you include it in with the lower egg and fowl house where the chickens live.
Right beside the fowl house, you’ll spot 3 egg shape seats which are made to look like weaver bird nests. You may even notice an aroma of burnt sugar when you’re sat in them, as they are surrounded by Katsura tree’s. A tree which gives off a sweet caramel scent during the autumn months when its leaves change colour.
Kitchen garden
The vibrant and organic kitchen gardens are set out in a grid system, with chunky oak fruit cages and three dipping pools dotted throughout the middle. Sometimes you’ll notice the chefs coming down from the nearby Garden cafe to collect some fresh produce to use within the menu.
There’s also a beautiful wavy archway tunnel to walk through on the way to reach the kitchen garden, which (depending on the time you visit) has vegetables and vines climbing all over it. On our recent visit it had different types of marrows hanging from it.
Colour Gardens
Planted as a tribute to the Canadian couple (Nori and Sandra Pope) who gardened here during the 1990’s. Lined in a row, these three mini gardens each have their own colour theme; one red, one blue, and one white.
As these are small they don’t take long to explore, but it’s really effective how they have grown these single colour garden that are full of interesting shapes and textures.
Victorian fragrance gardens and cascades
As the name suggests, fragrance is the main purpose of the Victorian Fragrance Garden. So much so, that the flower displays are changed twice a year. If you visit during spring you’ll likely smell tulips, whereas summer will have the tropical pineapple-grapefruit scent of salvia. It’s a lovely place to sit and watch the dragon flies race across the pond.
Just down from the fragrance garden you’ll see the cascades where water tumbles down from one small pool to the next. Theres a fun surprise for children (or fully-grown adults) down the bottom too. Just be prepared to get wet ankles!
Cottage garden
Built sometime during the 17th century, this little red brick cottage sits in the heart of this garden. Surrounded by flowers that change with the seasons. You can expect to see tulips in spring and sweet-peas during the summer, before it all slowly starts to fade away with the harsh arrival of winter.
Because Somerset was a fairly poor county during the 17th century, a lot of houses during that time had thatched roofs. Which is exactly why the Newt owners decided to thatch this pretty cottage.
Today, the cottage provides a safe and cosy home to swallows, bats and wrens. But during the 19th century a gardener called King lived in the tiny cottage, along with his wife and 9 children. What a squeeze that must have been!
I love the cottage garden, it’s so charming and full of British character.
Winter garden
The winter garden is a victorian glasshouse thats built on the same base as the original glasshouse. It’s home to some of the plants which the victorian ‘plant hunters’ unearthed when they ventured to new territory and found species like cacti, birds of paradise and white tiger lilies. Many of which looked super unusual and impressive to the majority of Brits who had never travelled outside of the UK.
There’s a little fish pond in here, along with a bar and some tables and chairs to sit and enjoy a drink in this beautiful covered space.
Japanese garden
Carved into the side of the bank, you’ll find a small Japanese garden. As it’s fairly narrow it involves a one way system, so make sure you take notice of the ‘no entry’ sign. This garden has all the characteristics of a traditional Japanese garden. Including stepping stones, bonsai trees and the beautiful raked gravel patterns.
As you make your way up and around this small Japanese inspired garden, you’ll find different information boards dotted along the way.
Beezantium
Get ready to learn everything possible about our fabulous and hard working pollinators inside the Beezantium. Step inside and you’ll see yellow honeycomb shaped walls, which you can scan with your headset to hear different bee facts.
Its jam packed with information in here, with so much to see, do and listen to. You’ll certainly leave with heaps of new knowledge and a greater understanding on the life of a bee!
Theres also a real working beehive inside so you can watch some of the honey-bees in action. But don’t worry, it’s behind glass so they can’t get you.
The story of gardening
This sleek glass fronted building is half buried into the field, and the grass continues up over the roof making it almost invisible from certain angles.
Inside there is a cafe serving up hot and cold drinks, along with sandwiches, soups and a selection of cakes and pastries (I highly recommend the Bakewell tart) It’s the perfect place to take a pit-stop as you make your way further around the grounds of this estate.
There is also an excellent interactive and fully immersive museum in here all about gardening. It covers the different types of gardens that you’d find across the world, and how different cultures use their garden spaces. Along with a selection of gardening tools and fun quizzes to complete along the way. Much like the Beezantium, The Story of Gardening also gives you a headset and tablet to use inside the museum.
Viper bridge
Welcome to one of my favourite parts of The Newt; the epic treetop aerial walkway thats known as the Viper.
Not only is it constructed to look like the belly of a snake, it also snakes its way through the tree canopy. The Viper stands at an impressive 40 foot above ground and its a fabulous place to look down into the woodland deer park below.
The beautiful Viper bridge is 430ft long, and ends right outside The Story of Gardening.
The Deer Park
The moment you step through the heavy metal gates with the antler gate toppers on, you have arrived inside the beautiful deer park.
On our most recent visit, we spotted a herd of perhaps 10 or so deer the moment we walked in. They were so close to us too, and they didn’t seem at-all phased by us being there. Another time we saw an adorable herd of white-tailed, spotty fawns.
The deer park is pretty large with a few different walking trails cutting through it. Theres the main gravel path thats lined with tall pine trees, or you can take the windy route down into the woodland area (where you’ll find a woodland play area for children) If you’re looking for an aerial view, take a stroll across the Viper and try and spot them strolling around beneath you.
Grotto
Built using a combination of sparkly shells, crystals and volcanic rock, this grotto is certainly enchanting. However, you need to be careful inside this magical cavern as its also home to the Wyvern. Take note of the warning sign at the entrance, and be sure not to rub the Wyvern’s nose… Actually, maybe you should!
Roman Villa Experience
Whilst carrying out work at the Newt, they unearthed the remains of a large Roman villa. You’ll be able to take a look at the unexposed part inside the fantastic Roman museum.
They have constructed the reimagined Villa Ventorum by using the blueprint that they unearthed, along with other local Roman discoveries. It’s The Newts best shot at bringing their incredible discovery back to life for all of us to experience, and what an experience it is!
You wear a headset around the villa, and the audio automatically changes as you move from room to room. They even have a fun virtual reality experience at the end which my kids really enjoyed. It shows all the rooms in use, which they found really interesting having just explored all of them themselves.
They even have a Roman tasting experience, where you can try some authentic Roman food. They only had the flatbread available when we visited, which we tried with some green minty salsa. Next time we would like to try the Roman meatballs and their equivalent to donuts. Within this courtyard, they have some roman style toilets to use too which my children found very exciting!
Children are also given a little treasure hunt with questions to answer throughout their time in the museum. If you get them all correct they are rewarded with a small gift. Which when we visited was a pin.
The Roman Villa experience requires pre-booking which you can either do on the newt app, or when you arrive in the Threshing barn. I highly recommend you do so, as it is fabulous!
Dovecote
This beautiful looking dovecote is home to both pigeons and doves, and you’ll find it on the way to the Roman Villa. Head up inside the spiral tower to take a look at them all tucked inside their little pigeon holes, then admire the extensive countryside views from the windows. From one of the windows, you can spot King Alfreds Tower in the distance.
Bullbeggar’s Dell
You’ll find this pretty waterfall if you take the slightly longer route to walk to either the Dovecote or the Roman Villa. It’s a super peaceful place to sit and listen to the relaxing sound of moving water. Plus it seems hardly anyone ever walks this way as it’s always to quiet here.
Farm shop
Everything about The Newt farm shop is beautiful. The packing is simplistic, the layout is welcoming, and the produce looks delicious. Every-time we visit we buy a jar of their lemon & ginger curd because its the tastiest lemon curd you’ll ever find. Definitely give it a try as the comforting warmth of the ginger mixed in really works!
As its a farm shop, you can expect the prices in here to be much higher than your regular supermarket, so it’s a nice treat every once in a while.
They sell a big selection of their produce in here. From vibrant fruit and veg to meat and cheeses, jams and pickles, baked goods and alcohol.
Places to get food and drink
There are a few different pit-spots dotted around The Newt, offering a place to take a break and enjoy something tasty or refreshing. I’ll list them all below, along with a brief description of what each place offers.
Gelato shop
This ice-cream parlour sells a fabulous variety of gelato and zingy sorbets, that they make right here at the Newt. You can choose to have one or two scoops in either a tasty waffle cone or tub, and prices start at £3.75. The Newt is cashless, so make sure you bring a payment card otherwise you wont be able to get one.
Our recommendations would be the lemon curd, black-bee honey, or mint choc. All of which are super flavourful.
Cyder bar
This is the first place you’ll find for food and drink options. You’ll see it in the courtyard once you enter through the Threshing Barn.
The Cyder bar obviously sells The Newt’s very own cider which they make here. But it also sells hot and cold drinks, along with some food items like sausage rolls, Roast beef & mustard focaccia sandwiches, salads and sticky apple & cinnamon buns to name a few.
The Botanical Rooms
This restaurant serves up seasonal produce thats grown either at The Newt or sourced locally. As the menu is seasonal, you can expect the items to be switched up multiple times throughout the year. Right now they have dishes such as; day boat fish, mushroom ragout with crab butter, or crispy buttermilk celeriac, pickled shitake and greens. With mains costing between £21-£29.
Garden cafe
This beautiful cafe overlooks both the egg shape garden and kitchen garden. Open for breakfast and lunch you’ll be able to enjoy meals such as; Brioche French toast with set buffalo yoghurt & apple compote, or spiced roasted cauliflower, green lentils, fermented leaves with almond yoghurt. Prices range from £10-£20 per dish, or you can come in for something smaller, like tea and cake or perhaps a bacon roll.
The Story of Gardening Cafe
As mentioned earlier, The Story of Gardening has a cafe selling similar items to The Cyder Bar.
Membership
Back when we first started visiting The Newt in 2019, it was loads smaller and you could buy a general day pass for around £20 per person (which you could even convert into an annual pass). However, they have recently removed the option of general day passes, and you now have to be a member to visit. Members do have the option to bring family and friends along by adding a guest pass. These cost £20pp if done on The Newt app, or £25pp at the gate.
If you live locally to the Newt I would definitely consider getting yourself a Newt membership. There is too much to see and do in one day, and it’s lovely to revisit and see the changes throughout the different seasons.
Along with unlimited access to The Newt, having a membership also gets you free entry into their partner gardens. Which includes The Eden Project, Lost Gardens of Heligan, Wakehurst and Blenheim Palace to name a few. Some gardens are even outside the UK, with options in China, US and South Africa. To see the full list click here.
Single person membership is £80, or a couples membership is £130 (if you’re doing a direct debit, otherwise it’s £160) and under 16’s are free.
Who owns The Newt?
South African billionaires; Karen Roos and her husband, Koos Bekker first bought the huge 900 acre estate back in 2013. They began renovating Hadspen House and managed to open the hotel in 2019, just before lockdown. Since then they and have spent years, and most probably a small fortune on creating all the gardens and everything else the Newt has to offer. Karen and Koos also own a similar estate just outside of Cape Town in South Africa called Babylonstoren.
Are dogs allowed?
As there is a deer park and free-roaming chickens, rather understandably The Newt don’t allow any dogs on site. The only exception is for guide dogs.
Staying at the Newt in Somerset
The hotel rooms inside Hadspen House have a traditional feel, which fits perfectly with the Georgian property. However, I much prefer the style of the more rustic rooms which are found in the farmyard section of The Newt. The interior design of those where they blend rustic with luxury is right up my street. But with rooms costing almost £1000 per night, its a super expensive place to stay. It does look absolutely wonderful though.
Conclusion
We love visiting The Newt and seeing the colours and landscapes change with the seasons. There is so much to do here, that we are making great use of our annual membership. If you live locally, I don’t think you would regret getting a Newt membership, plus it gives you free access to all their partner gardens too.
If you love visiting gardens, then you will adore The Newt. The attention to detail and level of thought thats gone into everything they have built here is super impressive. From the array of different gardens, to the incredibly immersive museums and Roman villa experience. It’s one of, if not the best gardens in Somerset.
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