Many years ago, I studied on the fringes of the South Downs in West Sussex. My university – the University of Sussex – was enveloped by the protected National Park. I regret to say though, that (like most of my fellow undergrads, I suspect) I never made the most of the beautiful UK countryside that surrounded me.Â
Aside from one 3am post-nightclub walk through the Downs, on which we got entirely lost and had to call a taxi to drive us the miles and miles back to campus at 6am, I barely saw the South Downs at all. Fast forward 20 years – 15 of which I’ve lived outside of the UK – and I thought it was about time I pay the South Downs the respect they deserve, which is infinitely more than my late night/early morning wanderings.Â
This, coupled with the fact that it’s less than a 90-minute journey from London, is why I decided to check into The Woodcote, a former pub, now a restaurant with rooms. Located in the ever-so-quaint village of Graffham, it’s just a one-hour drive away from my old university.
The Vibe
This is a restaurant-first stay in a former pub, and the welcoming atmosphere so often associated with public houses is still very much alive. It begins the second you enter through the front door: instead of walking into a hotel lobby and looking for a check-in desk (neither exist here), you’ll be greeted like an old friend by smiling staff. They’ll walk you from the cosy, pub-like area, through the restaurant (a preview of what’s to come when you dine later that day), and toward your room. There are just six bedrooms; all are located in an out-house-like area and make the very most of their location. Three out of the six (Brookes, Fitzlea and Furze) back straight onto the South Downs, and it’s just a few steps from bed-to-Downs for the other three.
The Rooms and Suites
Inside Brooks, one of six bedrooms at The Woodcote
The restaurant at The Woodcote isn’t the only space that’s had a former life: each of the six bedrooms was, once upon a time, a cowshed. You wouldn’t know it now though, thanks to extensive repurposing, redesigning and redecorating. None of them are the same, but each feels both cosy and elegant at the same time – akin to spending the night at your most stylish friend’s countryside cottage. I stayed in Brooks, where a soft green colour palette and framed floral art complement the even brighter greens of the South Downs outside the window. Craving nature, one of the first things I did on arrival was to step outside and lie down on the grass. Even once I’d got that out of my system, my mornings revolved around my outdoor terrace: coffee-with-a-view, dressed in the room’s fluffy gown, overlooking the Downs.Â
The Food + Drink
When a restaurant has its own gardener, beekeeper, arborist and deer stalker, you know the dishes that end up on your plate will be nothing short of sensational. A story clearly told by the multiplication of cars between breakfast time (six bedrooms; six cars) and lunch or dinner service (40-covers; circa 15 cars at any given time). Chef Nathan Cornwell joined the restaurant this month, and his star-studded CV includes experience at Le Champignon Sauvage (Cheltenham), Lucknam Park (the Cotswolds), Kitchen W8 (London), Kadeau (Copenhagen), Geranium (Copenhagen) and The Barn at Moor Hall (Lancashire). Today, these restaurants boast an impressive 11 Michelin stars between them.Â
Nathan’s produce-led menu at The Woodcote centres the South Downs and West Sussex. He sources locally or forages ingredients to craft dishes like Duncton Mill Trout (sourced from just five minutes away) and served with lovage taramasalata and kohlrabi; Saddle of Goodwood lamb (20 minutes away) plated with preserved lemons, organic turnips, charred lettuce; and Ashford Farm duck liver parfait (30 minutes away) with pickled local cherries and a warmed brioche. Chichester-sourced strawberries with sorbet and a lemon mousse or a milk chocolate namelaka follow.Â
Within a bright-by-day and ambient-by-night room decorated with sage-green panelling and wide wicker chairs, dish after dish appears, each as delicious as the next. Presentation is creative, the mood is jolly, service is flawless. Dine at lunchtime to gaze out of the window-lined wall at the South Downs extending from the restaurant’s gardens or, on a summer day take a seat on the outdoor patio. By night the space comes alive with flickering candles and an abundance of atmosphere.
The Little Extras
The hotel element of this stay might be smaller than the restaurant, but none of it comes as a second thought. Instead, comfy beds, the fluffiest of duvets, Wildsmith bodycare in the bathroom, and scattered design-led books about countryside things (Cabin, Earth & Fire and Edible: 70 Sustainable Plants in my room) set the tone.
Breakfast seems to take a backseat against the more coveted evening meals. Understandable, perhaps, but sharing a breakfast for two – a full English, flaky chocolate-filled pastries, toast with salted butter, hot cappuccinos and a green juice – was one of my favourite moments of my stay. It’s taken in the very same room as lunch and dinner but, minus the extended foodie crowd, it feels more homely (again, just like breakfast at your friend’s rural retreat might).
The To-Do List
Katie Silcox at The Woodcote
If you’re staying overnight, take time after dinner before returning to your room. The South Downs are a designated Dark Sky Reserve, so when the sun goes down so do the lights across the region, including at The Woodcote. The result is spectacular stargazing opportunities – if you’re lucky you’ll even see the Milky Way. I didn’t, but the night stars mesmerised me so much that I stayed up much later than I’d planned, sitting on the terrace of my room and staring up at the sky for hours.Â
If you’re keen to explore a little further afield (pun intended), there are plenty of South Downs fields to hike across. Ask the hotel for the best routes, as well as about the other outdoorsy activities they can arrange for guests, which include horse riding, clay pigeon shooting, mountain biking and fishing at a local mill.
I’d decided that after all these years, the best way for me to honour the stillness of the Sussex Downs was by doing not much at all, and The Woodcote was the perfect place to achieve it: when I wasn’t eating or sleeping I spent most of my time on my outdoor terrace, staring at the sky by night and reading, drinking tea, or gazing across the South Downs by day. The only time I ventured beyond the hotel was for a morning stroll through the sleepy village of Graffham, right on the hotel’s doorstep. Don’t expect much in the way of entertainment here – pigs and sheep aside, it’s home to only local cottages, a Parish Hall and a small minimarket (a surprisingly good place to pick up locally made jams and relishes).Â
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