Sleeping in a castle turret is storybook stuff – which might explain why the Turret Suite is so often a bride’s first choice when getting married at Eastnor. That and the adjoining sitting room, which offers extra space for the small army it takes to get ready on your wedding day.
But the suite wasn’t always a romantic refuge. When the Hervey-Bathurst family moved into the castle in 1989, it was essentially a glorified storage cupboard, having previously been a flat in the 1950s before becoming a repository for excess furniture. The family, however, saw its potential, and selected this suite as the first set of rooms to restore.
It’s not hard to see why. The tower is more or less completely spherical, with sweeping views over the arboretum, courtyard, lake and, in the distance, the Malvern Hills. Swallows nest in the turret above, meaning that at sunrise – or sunset – you’re serenaded by a swooping, warbling performance. Best of all, it’s just 75 steps from the courtyard, offering a semi-private route outside – ideal for slipping out for early morning air or late-night stargazing.
So, the family set to work, and today, the Turret Suite is filled with the ever-so-Eastnor mishmash of design objects and antiques, many of them salvaged from the castle’s own cellars. A velvet-bordered mirror now hangs above the fireplace, flanked by Delft tiles and two French porcelain officers from the 20th century. In the bedroom, a rescued 19th-century Gothic mirror – almost the shape of a bishop’s hat – is perfectly positioned to catch the morning light.
The living room’s gloriously florid curtains – designed by Robert Kime – practically beg to be dramatically thrown open, revealing a triptych of floor-to-ceiling windows that flood the space with light. In front of them, there’s also a mahogany dining table with Victorian dining chairs, paintings by William West and Arnold Helcke, and a particularly fine example of a 19th-century mantel clock.
The bedroom itself is centred around a huge George II-style four-poster bed fashioned out of the dark mahogany wood typical of this period, dressed with delicate pale yellow ruffles. It’s paired with a mahogany nightstand that was made in 1780 – well before the castle was even thought about, let alone built. (And yes, it was a mission to get the bed up the stairs and into the turret…)
There’s a bathroom, too, with a freestanding bath in the centre, and a chimney piece adorned with Meissen figures of a golden oriole and parrot. It’s the kind of place you want to relax in for hours, with a good book (perhaps plucked from the from the stacked, scarlet bookshelves) and a martini (freshly shaken from our new martini trolley). And it’s at moments like these when the castle feels like home. It’s just you, the swallows at the window and the soft sense that this room was always meant to be yours – even just for one night.