Elcot Park Hotel

Mercure Newbury Newbury Elcot Park
Mercure Newbury Newbury Elcot Park  Mercure Newbury Newbury Elcot Park shown within Berkshire
SU397696
List of places: UK • England • Berkshire

The Mercure Newbury Elcot Park Hotel is a four star country hotel belonging to Jupiter Hotels and franchised as part of the Mercure hotel chain, situated within 16 acres (65,000 m²) of land in the locality of Elcot near Kintbury in the English county of Berkshire.

History

The hotel was built in 1768,^[1] possibly for Charles Dundas, a prominent landowner from the neighbouring village of Kintbury. Amongst the earliest inhabitants was Anthony Bushby Bacon who was a considerable iron master and colliery owner in Wales and southern England. He owned Elcot Park and previously rented both the Donnington Grove and Benham Park estates. The success of his exports to Russia and Sweden made him the wealthiest man in Britain according to records held in Wales.

Sale documents are held for 1844, when Elcot Park was sold with 122 acres (in contrast with today's 16). Lady Shelly, mother of the great poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, moved here with her remaining daughter, having suffered the double tragedy of her husband’s death at Field Place, Sussex and the death by drowning of Percy. The estate was then let for a number of years to various military families until the Shelly family sold their interest in Elcot Park to Sir Richard Vincent Sutton, 6th Baronet in 1899. Sir Richard’s main seat was Benham Park, and the land attached to Elcot at that time adjoined Benham Valence. Elcot Park was again let for a further 25 years to a prominent JP by the name of Richard Plaskett Thomas. He held substantial tea plantations in India. The land belonging to Elcot Park then became part of the tenancy for Elcot Farmhouse. The main mansion, parkland and outbuildings forming a separate tenancy.

During the early years of the Second World War, a Hampshire family – the Bramley Firths from Silchester became tenants. Towards the end of the war, a Mrs Whitehead had taken the tenancy and it was she who first had the initiative to create a “letting residence”. After a long fight to establish a licensed hotel, she finally gave up the struggle whilst in her late fifties.In the late 1940s the property was trading as Elcot Park Hotel & Country Club. Mrs Edith Weston bought the tenancy from Lady Helen De Crespigny in 1949 and continued trading on this basis, linking Elcot with her other family business in London (The Surrey Restaurant in Surrey St, London WC2). Mrs Weston ran it as a successful business with a wide clientele in the neighbourhood, until 1952 when it went into liquidation. The property remained empty for some ten years, until in 1967 a Mr Harold Sterne and his wife June took the tenancy with a serious attempt to create a worthy hotel. There was a programme of development that lasted some 18 years. Mr & Mrs Sterne were given the opportunity to purchase the property outright in 1977 and they continued the business until deciding to retire in 1987.

The hotel was purchased by a Mr Katzler and between 1987 and the end of May 1989, the hotel was further extended by the addition of 7 more bedrooms in the Mews Cottages, formerly the private accommodation of Mr Stern. As interest rates rose Mr Katzler decided to sell the property rather than continue his expansion and redevelopment plans. From June 1989 the hotel has been in company ownership. Resort Hotels added a tasteful extension giving the property a further 42 en-suite bedrooms and a Health Club with an indoor swimming pool, spa pool, sauna and mini-gym (although the Health Club is no longer in use). The restaurant was redecorated and extended and a new conservatory was built to replace the original one, which had been destroyed in the gales of 1987.

Jarvis Hotels acquired the property in 1994, bedrooms and bathrooms have been refurbished and a full kitchen re-fit has given the hotel the facility to host large local events. In September 2001 Jarvis joined with Ramada Hotels to form Ramada Jarvis. Following the demise of Ramada Jarvis, the hotel was re-branded and now trades as the Mercure Newbury Elcot Park Hotel.

Location

Prospective guests seeking the hotel should follow the A4 from Newbury in the direction of Hungerford for roughly four miles, looking out for the Halfway Inn. Three quarters of a mile thereafter one should see the signs for the hotel). Taking the narrow winding road up the hill towards the hotel, one should exact extreme caution at all times.

The hotel is located on a slight hill overlooking the Kennet Valley with views towards Walbury Hill. Around the grounds there are trees, bushes and grass.

External links

• Hotel website

References