newbay country house

A castle stood on this land in the 1400s, and beyond a high wall in the garden is an ancient stableyard with Elizabethan buildings, said to be haunted by the ghost of a former owner, who was piked to death by insurrectionists in 1798. The French family, previous owners of Newbay House, founded the Canadian Mounties. The last heir married a canadian girl, and setttled in Canada, selling Newbay House to Paul and Min Drum. Open peat and log fires welcome arriving guests, and the house is decorated with stripped pine furniture. There are huge trees, lawns, and bright flowerbeds in the garden. There is a pond with wild ducks and moorhens, a peacock which strolls grandly about and poses on the porch above the kitchen door, a black-and-white cat rescued when dumped as a tiny kitten in their dustbin, and a slightly odd-looking dog. This is not a hotel: you must book in advance, and you will not find hotel facilities. It is like staying with friends.