Perfect for Year round camping, luxurious out of season camping excursion in the Hampworth Estate in the New Forest in the style of the Great Explorers.

Country House Hideout takes its inspiration from the age of the Great Explorers like Stanley and Livingstone. Buried away deep in the estates of some of England's finest country houses, you and your family will be transported back in tented luxury to a time when children had the freedom to discover the natural world around them. Step back into the real-life pages of the Jules Verne and Arthur Ransome adventure stories your parents read to you when you were young.

Review

Country House Hideout is a new venture brought to us from the creator of Feather Down Farm days, Dutchman Luite Moraal, and opened here in England by Mark Gordon. The concept behind Country House Hideout is that you are invited to stay in the grounds of a private estate in luxury tented accommodation in the style of explorers from years gone by. We were given the opportunity to stay at the Hampworth Estate in the New Forest at the first Country House Hideout to open in England. As soon as we entered the grounds of the Country House Hideout we were welcomed by the family that runs the estate and shown around. You are advised to turn up before 5.00 when you secure your booking. I would recommend that you stick to these guidelines as the lodges are located within thick woodland, and as soon as it becomes dark it is very easy to get lost or injure yourselves. Particularly at this time of year, when light fades very quickly in the afternoon, and the weather quickly turns the ground in to muddy trenches, it is not much fun traipsing through the woods with your luggage. On this note the two most important things that you need to take are a good torch and a decent pair of wellington boots.


We arrived on a Friday evening just as the sun was starting to set, and really appreciated the fact that we could still see where we were headed as the woodland on the Hampworth Estate is stunning, but also hazardous due to the heavy rain during the week. We were given trolleys to take our stuff from the car to the canvas lodge, on the way we were shown the honesty shop to replenish our supplies of wine or any other essentials. The grounds of Hampworth are truly beautiful and the peace of the woodland hits you as soon as you start your walk through to the tent. The tent is powered by a generator which you have to plug in as you arrive, and this in turn supplies power to the lights. When you arrive you are given bedding to place on the beds and a basket of logs which you can replenish from a pile under the outdoor cooking cart. The first thing we suggest you do is start your fire in the woodburner or the cooking cart outside to ensure you get a good fire going for cooking and warmth.

The design of the tented lodges fits perfectly with the concept of creating an atmosphere similar to the excursions taken by explorers in the 19th Century. Attention has been paid to the smallest of details making the whole experience one where you can get as involved as you want to in an opportunity to learn and explore or you can just simply relax and enjoy your Glamping experience. If you have experienced Feather Down Farms you will notice some similarities and some major differences. The main difference being the Discovery Corner an area set aside for a Gramaphone, a Microscope, books on adventuring, a field telephone, and a telescope for star spotting. The toilet is outside in a separate shed, and there is also a bathing tent. The style seems to hark back to when the gentry used to travel to Africa on Safari and as you heat your water for bathing in a wooden tub listening to the sound of the woodland you feel as if you are the master/mistress of all you survey.


We were staying at Hampworth Estate over the Halloween weekend which really added to the atmosphere. We spent the Saturday morning visiting the Estate farmshop and purchased some Venison to cook a winter stew, and some pumpkins for carving to light up with candles for Halloween. We cooked the stew on the Cooking Cart outside, the slow cooking made this the best venison stew I have ever eaten. Sitting outside in the dark, with the smell of the stew wafting through the woodland, as we placed pumpkins around our lodge tent makes a perfect camping memory. There is so much for children to do here, exploring the woodland, learning how to use microscopes, and star gazing, this should be an unforgettable experience for them. Or if you venture out on your own child free this would make an ideal romantic retreat hidden away in the woodland. Waking up in the morning in the comfiest of beds, with soft cotton linen as the smell of fresh coffee drifts through the lodge is a far cry from traditional camping but for a special occasion or as someone’s first introduction to camping this is well worth the money.

Recommended for: Glampers, families looking for an alternative to traditional camping, people looking for a romantic retreat, groups of friends wanting a bit of comfort for a special occasion.