Wandering through Stanbrook Abbey Hotel’s fragrant lavender garden our eyes were drawn to a wall of memorial plaques.
Upon reading them, we discovered we were in the final resting place of 141 Benedictine nuns who once called this peaceful part of Worcestershire home.
Time-wise, the dearly departed ranged from ‘‘Monica Mordle, died 6 December 1878, aged 66’’ to ‘‘Margaret Mary McEvoy, died 7 May 2008, aged 70’’.
They were members of a closed order of nuns – meaning they cut themselves off from society almost completely – which left Stanbrook as recently as 2009.
Evidence of the nuns remains everywhere, especially in the magnificent church, the dramatic stone cloisters, the library and their bake house.

Yet today, while still offers visitors a secluded retreat, there is nothing austere or unwelcoming about Stanbrook Abbey – quite the opposite, in fact.
Converted into a luxury hotel in 2015, the five-star service and facilities complement the stunning, modern additions, which  blend effortlessly with the old abbey buildings.
And, perhaps surprisingly for somewhere so fancy, the hotel is also geared up to welcome families like ours.
Our two kids loved climbing the 140 spiral steps to the top of the chapel’s bell tower (you ask at reception for a key) for great views of the Malvern Hills and surrounding countryside.
Down in the cellars there’s a full-size snooker table and a games room with pool table, table football and all your favourite board games (plus a picture of nuns playing a Nintendo Wii!).

Best of all, there are six sets of bedrooms which have been clustered together to offer groups of friends and family an exclusive area of the hotel.
While for bigger families there’s the five-bedroomed Manor House with fully-fitted kitchen and a private walled garden, which links to the hotel via a cloister.  
Our set of interconnecting rooms were entered through a door off a second floor corridor. Another private corridor then led to doors to the three bedrooms.
The rooms – each coming with a bath and walk-in shower – included Boulton, a ‘superior with feature’, and Ashlin and Thompson, two junior suites with sofas.

They all had ornate original features such as stone fireplaces, high ceilings, dark wood beams and enormous windows with stained glass.
The rooms also had all the modcons you’d expect, the furnishings were luxurious and contemporary, and the beds super comfy – with ecclesiastical-style headboards.
Mummy and Daddy bagsied Ashlin because it came with a covered outside space – a private part of a large rooftop terrace overlooking the sheep on the front lawn.
Had we not booked an evening meal we’d have all happily stayed in our rooms and starved.

Creative seasonal dishes are served up in The Refectory, which, as the name suggests, was where the nuns gathered to eat their meals.
This grand hall has retained its elegant period features but now offers sumptuous booths, as well as comfortable table seating.
This room’s oak fittings were carved by Robert ‘Mousey’ Thompson, famous for adding wooden mice to his furniture – we had fun finding a couple of them.
While my wife and I enjoyed the wild mushroom arancini and chicken supreme offers, our offspring were happy with the pizza and chips from the kids’ menu.

Smaller dishes are served up in the light and bright George’s Bar (named after Prince George and adorned with pictures of other famous Georges!).
On dry days you can have your burgers, sharing platters or afternoon tea (they do a kids’ version, of course) on the pleasant terrace.
The milkshakes here are to die for, trust me.

Back down in the cellars, the abbey bakery has been turned into an intimate private dining area, with the original Birmingham-made ovens forming a unique backdrop.
There’s also a wine tasting area, featuring a long wooden table lit up by a striking glassware chandelier, next to the vast temperature-controlled wine cellar.
Stanbrook Abbey Hotel can be deceiving. While it may appear stuffy at first glance it’s actually somewhere where children will be as happy to stay as mum and dad.
So if you’ve got a special occasion to celebrate but can only get away as a family unit, it could be the answer to your prayers.
Our family could definitely get in the habit of staying there.

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Stanbrook Abbey history

The Second English Benedictine Congregation of Nuns was founded in 1625 in Flanders (now part of France) catering for Catholic expatriates.
After being imprisoned during the French Revolution, the 17 surviving nuns fled to England and later purchased Stanbrook Hall, built in 1755.
The site was expanded by architect Charles Day in 1838 and then by three sons of the great Augustus Welby Pugin, who designed the Palace of Westminster.
The Callow Great Hall, the former church of the abbey, with its high vaulted ceiling and beautiful stained glass windows, was consecrated in 1871.
Evidence of the nuns’ dedication can be found on the floors of the pews where hours of kneeling in daily worship created significant grooves.
As part of the nuns’ self-sufficient way of life, they founded a private printing press, the only one known to have operated from the 19th century into the 20th century.
The books were predominantly religious texts but also short works which were regarded as being impeccably printed and embellished with calligraphy.
Dame Laurentia, later Lady Abbess in 1931, counted playwright George Bernard Shaw and Sir Sydney Cockerell, director of The Fitzwilliam Museum, among her friends.
The correspondence between the three of them over 25 years was later turned into a book by a Stanbrook nun. This, in turn, inspired the 1988 play The Best Of Friends.
Three years later, a TV version of the play starred Patrick McGoohan, Sir John Gielgud and Dame Wendy Hiller as Shaw, Cockerell and Laurentia.
When heating bills became too costly and the endless repairs started to distract them from their monastic life, the nuns decided to sell Stanbrook Abbey.
The church was deconsecrated in 2009 and the nuns relocated to the world’s first eco-friendly nunnery in North Yorkshire, costing £7.5million.
In 2015, the original Stanbrook Abbey was reopened as a hotel, prior to Hand Picked Hotels adding the property to its collection in 2017.

Travel factfile

Stanbrook Abbey is part of the group of Hand Picked Hotels – quality country houses where you expect good service. It is next to the village of Callow End, a few short miles from both the riverside city of Worcester and Malvern, famous for its hills, spas and theatres. There are 70 bedrooms. A Classic Double room starts from £230 inc. breakfast. A Junior Suite starts from £380 and a Superior Suite (a slightly larger room) starts from £430. See www.handpickedhotels.co.uk or call 01905 832940.

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