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Down Hall, the 110-acre country house hotel, spa and estate in Essex, has announced the Spring launch of The Charles Garden, a significant half-acre development expanding the property’s outdoor events and wedding capacity.
Designed by renowned landscape architects Hicks & Hart, The Charles Garden is a permanent outdoor venue comprising a manicured lawn with seated capacity for 180 guests, supported by bespoke event infrastructure. Key features include Jasmine arches as ceremonial focal points, a two-metre-wide central aisle and a permanent bar and drinks terrace shaded by parasol trees, complemented by a separate lounge garden for drinks receptions.
The development also includes significant horticultural enhancements, with over 50 new trees, formal hedging, ornamental grasses and sculptural domes planted to create a secluded, exclusive-use atmosphere which is both beautiful and functional.
Linden Beattie, General Manager of Down Hall Hotel, comments: “The Charles Garden represents a strategic shift in our outdoor proposition. By providing a purpose-built environment with permanent bar facilities and high-capacity seating, we are offering event planners and customers a level of reliability and luxury that is often missing from traditional outdoor venues. This development ensures the estate remains a top choice for large-scale premium corporate events and weddings.”
Kate Hart, co-founder of Hicks & Hart Garden Design, says: “Our brief from Down Hall was to create a beautiful space that can play host to outdoor weddings and events whether they be small intimate functions or larger-scale celebrations. We hope that the intentional combination of various outdoor ‘rooms’, coupled with high impact soft planting, will provide the perfect backdrop to create joy-filled memories and of course stunning photographs”
The addition of The Charles Garden joins the hotel’s existing event spaces, from functions suites for more intimate gatherings through to the newly refurbished Bridgeman Selwin Suite seating up to 200 guests for dinner. Enhanced culinary packages include canapés, formal wedding breakfasts and multi-course menus as well as evening buffets or more casual street food concepts. A new alternative Wedding Brunch is also served at the adjacent Woodland Table, an immersive alfresco dining concept, featuring open-fire dishes using local produce and ingredients from the property’s own Kitchen Garden.
