Restaurant at Rushton Hall Hotel

For many years Rushton Hall was home for blind children in the care of the RNBI. Built in 1438 by the Tresham family it survived their religious and political upsets, and large sums of money were spent on it in Victorian times, fortunately in very good taste. The result is a house that has been cared for over the centuries and now makes an elegant backdrop to the latest country house hotel in Northamptonshire.

Within in the house the Great Hall is a magnificent oak panelled space, with great mullioned bay windows, but the panelled dining room is a close runner for sheer splendour and expression of the times in which they were built.

Outside the courtyard, sheltered on all four sides makes an ideal location for sunny lunches and tea in the afternoons.

The brigade of chefs under Alan Coulthard have a policy of producing food that is consistently reliable and of a high standard. All the baking is done in the kitchens and they have their own smokery where they treat salmon and meats.

It is early days yet but Rushton has the capacity to become one of the leading hotels in the area. Certainly Charles Dickens, whose regular visits to a considerable number of stately homes round the country are a matter of legend, thoroughly approved of Rushton, using it as his model for Haversham Hall in Great Expectations.