There’s nothing more exciting than discovering the charm of a new area and immersing yourself in the centuries of stories of a historic building. So, we’ve delved into the most historic part of the estate – the beautifully restored North Wing …

Your North Wing journey starts before you even see the house: first, take in the acres of rolling countryside as you enter the Combermere gates. Roll down the windows and breathe in the country air as you pass fields, lakes and woodland – all private and yours to explore together.

As you approach the Abbey, you will be wowed by the stunning Gothic architecture, bright white against the green backdrop. You will be welcomed in by your very own butler, Stephen or Sue, as they show you through to the grand dining and quaint living room, complete with a revived white marble fireplace. Did you know we have a power stone in the living area? The stone is an ancient marker, indicating the point at which two strong ley lines meet which some believed created a strong spiritual force – you may find yourself feeling a wave of strength, resilience or calm when standing near!

Rising up the grand staircase, you will find your room – either the Bhurtpore or Salamanca bedroom. The Salamanca is a space that epitomises true luxury. Decorated in tranquil shades of pale blue and silver, the Salamanca offers king size accommodation with plenty of room to spare. Looking out on to the square garden and mere, the Salamanca is tastefully decorated with antiques and features a spectacular ensuite bathroom with a marble clad bath.

If the Bhurtpore is your room of choice, you will be surrounded by charm with traditional wood panelling giving a real sense of history. A super king size bed awaits (honestly, we could stay in bed all day in the Bhurtpore!), an ensuite bathroom offers stunning mere views, and a fireplace completes the room. With either bedroom, you will also have access to the Tudor study – a cosy and peaceful room ideal for curling up with a good book.

Worn out after your woodland walk through the estate, or even more adventurous with skydiving, clay pigeon shooting or a hot air balloon ride? There are few things more rejuvenating than a delicious nibble and bottle of your favourite tipple! With the Wellington package, we offer a bespoke selection of your favourites ready and waiting for you to enjoy. And the delicacies don’t end there, in the morning you will be greeted by a locally sourced breakfast, brimming with fresh seasonal flavours.

The North Wing is the ideal location for retreating to the peace and quiet of the countryside with your loved one. Forget cramped, busy, noisy hotels – instead relax and unwind in your very own country house and explore the local area – we would heartily recommend a visit to the fantastic Combermere Arms gastropub.

If you’re on the fence about booking your getaway, we might just have the the finishing touch: all bookings placed before the end of March will receive a complimentary bottle of Champagne, ready and waiting on ice for your arrival. Ready to book yet?

Halloween is right around the corner, which has got us sharing ghost stories here at Combermere Abbey – and nothing frightened us more than the story of a ghostly apparition right here at the Abbey!

The second Lord Combermere passed away in 1891; and whilst his funeral was taking place on the 5th December at St. Margaret’s church in Wrenbury, Sybell Corbet, whose sister Lady Sutton was renting the Abbey for herself and her siblings to stay, took a photo of the wonderful Combermere Library with a long exposure camera. It is most likely that the photo was taken at this time due to the practicality of the quiet house – the whole family and the majority of the staff members were paying their respects at the funeral.

Corbet recorded that the exposure of the photograph took around an hour, and when the photo was developed a year later Sybell found a startling sight – there was a transparent image of a man’s upper body sitting in one of the chairs in the library.

Lord Combermere’s children noted the apparition’s likeness to their late father, and the chair the spectre seems to be sitting in was indeed his favourite – was the ghost of Lord Combermere settling down for some peace and quiet in his favourite spot in the Library whilst his body was being buried four miles away?

Some have tried to dispute the validity of the photograph, stating that due to the long exposure of the shot, a man sitting down for a moment and leaving again would produce a transparent figure – claiming that a servant could have walked in and sat down in the chair and swiftly left when he noticed that there was a photograph being taken! Always open to theories, Sybell noted that this could be a possibility – however there were very few men in the house at the time as most were attending the funeral, and the clothes worn by the men who were at the house looked vastly different to the outfit in the image.

Some may wonder why it is only the body of Lord Combermere which can be seen sat in the chair. We’ve been thinking – and we believe the answer lies in the manner of Lord Combermere’s death. Whilst visiting London, the second Lord was run over by a horse drawn carriage causing serious injury to both of his legs. Although it looked as though he might recover, he suddenly passed a few weeks later. Could there be a link between the injury to Lord Combermere’s legs and how his ghost appears to the living?

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the ghost of Combermere Abbey – who do you think it is sitting in the chair? And if you want to take your investigation a step further, did you know that you can book to go on a tour of the Abbey? Tours begin again in April 2018 – keep your eyes on our What’s On page for more info!

It’s back to school season, so we thought we’d share a history lesson on the newly-restored North Wing at Combermere Abbey – one of Cheshire’s preeminent historic buildings with almost 900 hundred years of habitation. Combermere Abbey is soaked in history and dates as far back as 1133 A.D with the creation of the monastery. It’s certainly been on quite a journey from then to the luxury B&B and wedding venue that it is today.

In 1827, Sir Stapleton Cotton was made Viscount Combermere – between 1814 and 1821 he decided to Gothicise the Abbey, copying the fashionable style of the period by covering the Tudor structure with castellations and pointed windows surrounding the arches. Here, the glorious North Wing was unveiled as part of this ambitious scheme to update the original manor house. After Viscount Combermere achieved his dream of building a Gothic home, it was only to be enjoyed by his family for two more generations, when they were forced to sell the Abbey. In 1919, Combermere was bought by Sir Kenneth Crossley – founder of Crossley Cars of Manchester, one of which you may have seen used at Combermere for our brides!

After Sir Kenneth’s death in the mid-1950s, sadly the North Wing was no longer used by the family, and it began to show serious signs of disrepair. Sir Kenneth’s granddaughter Penelope Callander (later Lady Lindsay) inherited the estate, before it was passed to its current owner, Sarah Callander Beckett, in 1992. Upon her inheritance of the Abbey, Sarah made it her mission to resurrect the North Wing.

During an interview with BBC Radio Stoke in 2016, Sarah described the North Wing as ‘completely derelict’. As the North Wing was so unstable at the time, there were fears that it would affect the rest of the Abbey, therefore it was even more important to restore it. It’s one of a few private Grade I listed buildings and was on the At Risk Register, and so, with the help of an Enabling Development Scheme which took 20 years to complete, £2 million was raised to undertake its restoration.

The project began in January 2014 where the Gothic cladding was stripped away, exposing the original Medieval/Tudor frame – we couldn’t begin to imagine the stories the walls could tell us! Restoring the North Wing was a true window into the past: for example, during our work on it, we found a shoe and horseshoe which had been concealed in the Abbey for good luck during building work in the late 18th century. Without this incredible project, we would never have discovered an 18^th-century map of the estate which certainly gave us our own history lesson!

In 2015, Edward Bulmer joined the design team and introduced his eco-friendly breathable ‘pots of paint’, and also leading the decoration team was Nina Campbell, an interior decorator whose client list is rather impressive – she counts the Duke and Duchess of York as clients! It took many skilled craftsmen and help from specialist restoration companies to breathe life back into the North Wing; the roof was rebuilt as well as the chimney and the Gothic exterior was reinstated.

We were so lucky to have such a fantastic restoration team help us turn the North Wing into a beautiful self-contained ‘Downton Abbey’ wing where newlywed couples can spend their wedding night together. But don’t think it’s only newlyweds who can enjoy the history and beauty of the North Wing – it can also be booked as a luxurious boutique B&B complete with house manager Stephan to look after you.

Today, the North Wing boasts a striking ground floor living space, complete with comfortable sofas and an antique writing desk, as well as a dining room with a bespoke and discreet kitchen. Guests can stay in either the stately Salamanca or charming Bhurtpore bedrooms.

The finishing touch? You can enjoy the bespoke Wellington drinks and nibbles package after a beautiful day exploring the surrounding countryside. You can even pre-order it before arriving at Combermere so it’ll be ready and waiting for you.

If you’d like to immerse yourself in the rich history of the North Wing, get in touch with our team!

Summer, it’s truly the time to be outside and enjoying our garden to its full potential! We had a sit down with Phil, the Head Gardener at Combermere Abbey, to find out some of his pearls of wisdom when it comes to gardening in the summer season.

To keep aphid pests and blackspot diseases at bay from your roses, Phil recommends spraying your roses with ‘Rose Clear’. This can be purchased from stores such as Homebase, Sainsbury’s or Wilko. Phil comments on the pros of using an insecticide: “It’s all very well religiously dead heading your roses but if they’re overrun with pests then all your hard work will go to waste! Make sure you start spraying when the first buds show and repeat every four weeks.”

When dead heading your roses and keeping them healthy, Phil suggests doing it continually throughout the season to encourage new flower buds, plus you’ll be able to clear away the messy petals underneath.

Phil simplifies the daunting task of looking after wisteria, “To keep your wisteria in check, a summer pruning will be required but it’s not as complicated as it seems. Make sure to cut back the long new side growth to five or six buds and then tie in any lengths that you may require for structure of the plant. You should then be set up until the winter pruning in late January or early February.”

If you own any trained apple and pear trees, whether they are espalier, cordon or fan-trained, Phil recommends you prune back this year’s side growth to three leaves this summer.  With trained stone fruits such as apricots, plums and peaches it is the exact same process as apples and pears.

Phil comments on veg garden upkeep, “Throughout the summer season it is important to continue to ‘earth up’ potatoes to keep the tubers from being in contact with direct sunlight and your chosen salad plant seeds should be gradually sown to extend your crop later into the season.”

With winter sown broad beans and mangetout, these need to be harvested now and if you’re looking to have an autumn harvest for vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, pak choi, radish and kohl rabi, now is the time to direct sow the seeds. Phil also advises the regular watering of tomatoes throughout the season as well as a weekly feed.

“If you’re wanting to benefit from French beans, runner beans and peas in your future recipes, July is your last chance to directly seed sow so don’t miss out.” Some sound advice from the gardening guru!

General maintenance of your garden should include weeding to keep your flower beds not only looking tidy but also preventing valuable nutrients being taken away from your plants. Clearing away debris, such as leaves or dropped flowers restricts diseases being created or spreading.  It will also interrupt any pests that are wanting to settle into your flower beds!

Phil shares his top tip for watering potted or containerised plants: “Mixing water retaining gel into the compost at the beginning of the season will reduced the amount of water required and it’s also less time consuming.  We have found our potted bedding plants have been much more floriferous and healthy this season for using the product this year”

When cutting your lawn, Phil warns not to cut it too low as this could encourage weeds and moss to grow in your lawn. You can’t create a bowling green lawn with standard grass varieties, so raising the cut just one notch will give you a stronger and less stressed lawn. Give your lawn extra strength with a summer feed (high in nitrogen) to give its green colour a boost.

We hope that Phil’s top tips for making the most of your garden will help bring some summer joy! If you’ve learnt something new and your garden has benefitted, we’d love to see your photos. Send them in to our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages and we’ll share our favourites.

Welcome to the first ‘Behind The Abbey’ interview! Today, we talk to Sarah Callander Beckett, owner of Combermere Abbey.

Where’s your favourite place at Combermere Abbey?

I love walking up to the Pleasure Gardens and down to the lake edge through the Garden Wood. There are a couple of benches there with wonderful views across the mere and you are framed by the wonderful trees in the wood, watching the grebes, coots, moorhens, herons and geese on the water, surrounded by birdsong in the trees behind.

What’s your proudest moment at Combermere Abbey?

When we finally completed the North Wing of the Abbey. This project had been over 12 years in gestation, and 27 months in restoration. To see the house whole again without scaffolding and standing proudly as she would have done in 1820 when first Gothicised was fantastic and made the long wait worthwhile.

What makes you smile?

I put a sofa in my new office three years ago, and it was taken over by the dogs immediately! It’s like a theatre unfolding, they jostle for the best spot, have noisy dreams about chasing rabbits and assume the most hilarious poses! Always makes me and anyone else in the room laugh.

If you could go back in time, when would you like to see in Combermere’s history?

The period when they altered the house from a Tudor manor house to a Gothic building. We do not have any archive records and it would be fascinating to understand how it all took place. A massive alteration without the benefit of modern machinery and skills.

Who would be your ideal dinner party guest, dead or alive, and why?

Julian Fellowes, Lord Fellowes of Stafford and the creator of Downton Abbey. He is an extraordinary chronicler of life, with a sharp wit, huge personality and a great raconteur. I have known him for many years, but he really ‘sings for his supper’, and is always the most entertaining person and a very loyal supportive friend.

And what would be served at your ideal dinner party?

I love my veggie garden so would try and craft the meal around things growing or from the estate. Sorrel soup (from a recipe by Lou Bailey, the American chef); pheasant breasts with wild mushrooms in cream, saffron and pepper sauce served with red cabbage and apples (from the maze of course!) and celeriac mash. Pudding would be a white chocolate mousse with rhubarb fool.

Share a secret about Combermere Abbey…

I have only just discovered that there was a door in the downstairs loo, which led to the crypt and it was only blocked up by my great grandfather after he bought the house in 1919. The Stapleton Cotton family have told me they remember it well, and as children used to go down there to play – getting very scared when the stone tops moved!

If you want to find out more about this remarkable house and wedding venue, read all about the Abbey and Gardens here.