So third time lucky, after two half hearted recces, I finally got into a local explore that popped up recently. Sadly despite it's grandeur in a few areas, I was pretty underwhelmed. Maybe that was to do with the slate grey skies and pissing down rain during the visit I dunno, but other than a handful of admittedly nice rooms and a fairly decent staircase it's a bog standard hotel underneath the Mock Tudor appearance.
The Springs, in North Stoke near Wallingford, is a late Victorian villa built in 1874 in a Mock Tudor style and greatly altered and extended during it's lifetime. Ian Gillan of Deep Purple fame purchased the villa in 1973 and was behind it's conversion into a 32 bedroom hotel, and installed a guitar shaped swimming pool in the grounds behind the building. The last owners bought it in 1995 and added a large golf course and club to the grounds. The hotel closed in 2014 after the owners could no longer afford the upkeep, however the gold club, voted one of the best in Oxfordshire is still open.
I wasn't very inspired here so only ended up taking a handful of photos. I much preferred the more decayed Grotto House a few miles down the road, much more photogenic.
The Springs, in North Stoke near Wallingford, is a late Victorian villa built in 1874 in a Mock Tudor style and greatly altered and extended during it's lifetime. Ian Gillan of Deep Purple fame purchased the villa in 1973 and was behind it's conversion into a 32 bedroom hotel, and installed a guitar shaped swimming pool in the grounds behind the building. The last owners bought it in 1995 and added a large golf course and club to the grounds. The hotel closed in 2014 after the owners could no longer afford the upkeep, however the gold club, voted one of the best in Oxfordshire is still open.
I wasn't very inspired here so only ended up taking a handful of photos. I much preferred the more decayed Grotto House a few miles down the road, much more photogenic.
