The Feathers

ORDER a gin and tonic at any decent pub or hotel bar and you’ll normally be offered a choice of two or three different brands of the spirit.

Ask for the same drink at The Feathers Hotel in the historic market

town of Woodstock and barman Petre will also ask you to make a choice – from the staggering 268 different varieties he has on display.

For one of the claims to fame of this charming 17th century country townhouse hotel is that it holds the Guinness World Record for the most varieties of gin commercially available.

That accolade was given to it back in 2012 when it stocked 192 different brands. Since then the number has rocketed – and is still growing.

And if you think one gin is very much like another, then think again.

On Petre’s advice I sampled a very distinctive-tasting gin called Old Tom, while my wife went for a pink gin from Germany called The Bitter Truth, which had a very unusual, yet appealing, sweet flavour.

If you’re feeling particularly affluent you could always order a shot of 1975 Suntory Gin from the last bottle in existence – at £25 a measure.

Woodstock is a picture postcard Cotswold town which, to some extent, has been overshadowed by many of its neighbours

But with its cottages and businesses built from the region’s typical yellow limestone, its numerous eateries and independent shops, it’s a town which is well worth a visit.

And if you needed any other incentive one of England’s finest historical houses, Blenheim Palace, lies on its edge, just five minutes’ walk from The Feathers.

Principal residence of the dukes of Marlborough, this majestic property sits in more than 2,000 acres of ‘Capability’ Brown parkland and formal gardens.

Open daily Blenheim, of course is the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, and there’s a fascinating exhibition of the life of the man at the palace.

And as you take a tour of the rooms of this masterpiece of 18th century baroque architecture you come across the bedroom where he was born, which remains largely unchanged to this day.

But if Churchill’s birthplace is easily found, his resting place is a little more awkward.

His grave lies in the churchyard of St Martin’s at Bladon just five minutes drive from Woodstock and is surrounded by the gravestones of other members of his family.

The churchyard, however, lies behind the main road and is difficult to spot. The best bet is to look out for the White House – a hostelry which, legend has it, Churchill frequented – and walk up the lane opposite.

Once in the churchyard the white stone grave which Churchill shares with his beloved wife Clementine is easy to spot as it has obviously been recently cleaned and stands out like a beacon.

Blenheim visited and St Martin’s successfully found, we headed back to The Feathers for dinner and to relax in the comfort of a unique hotel which over the years has been extended time and time again as more properties have been taken over.

The reception area, for example, was a draper‘s shop at the turn of the century while the tasteful wood-panelled restaurant was once a line of cottages.

The result is an elite, yet homely, property made up of 16 bedrooms and five suites which come in all shapes and sizes and lie in an intriguing maze of corridors and staircases that are a world away from the modern purpose-built hotels of today.

Antiques and traditional furnishings add a welcome touch, as do the roaring log fires in winter.

But if the rooms spoil you, so does the food – thanks to the hard work of ambitious 29-year-old chef Piotr Galeski, a culinary artist with a great future ahead of him.

Opting for his tasting menu rather than the a la carte – which features main courses from £14.50 – we enjoyed dishes such as roast partridge, violet potato purée, scotch egg, wild mushroom and curly kale followed by line-caught brill, mussels, clams and langoustines chowder and sea vegetables.

Both courses were not only spectacularly tasty but visually were artistry on a plate.

Piotr’s imagination (who would think of putting salted chicory mousse with a rich chocolate delice and café latte ice cream?) looks certain to get the hotel the additional AA rosette its aiming for to add to the

two it already boasts.

EDWARD STEPHENS visits an

Oxfordshire hotel that holds

a startling world record

■■Prices at The Feathersstart from £150 per room per night, including breakfast for two. To book call 01993 812291 or see www.feathers.co.uk.

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