Goodnestone Park

About the venue

Queen Anne house of 1704 near Canterbury, once visited by Jane Austen, in 15 acres of gardens. Wedding weekends with the 12-bedroom house for two or three nights, an Orangery marquee seating 120 in the warmer months, and corporate stays for up to 24.

Until the 1850s, the Round Room at Goodnestone Park was the entrance hall. Then a Doric portico was built on the west side as the new front door, and the old hall became one of a run of three connecting rooms. Its painted panels now frame civil ceremonies for up to 30.

Sir Brook Bridges built the house in 1704, and his descendants remodelled it many times. A third storey, the stables and the coach house were added in the 1770s. In 1756 one of the family married an ancestor of the current Lord FitzWalter, and the FitzWalters still own the estate. Jane Austen visited, and Bonnington Cottage, once the estate office, was a favourite of hers.

Family members lived in the house until 2016, when the designers Francesca Rowan Plowden and Marcus Crane renovated the interiors. Rooms are named after past residents and visitors, including the Jane Austen Room. The house sleeps 24 in 12 bedrooms, and Bonnington Cottage adds four more.

Fifteen acres of gardens surround it. They take in formal terraces and a walled garden, woodland walks, arboreta and wildflower meadows. Sussex cattle graze the 150 acres of parkland in summer. The Old Dairy Café serves homemade food made with local ingredients. Canterbury is a short drive away and London a little over an hour.

Queen Anne house built in 1704

15 acres of gardens near Canterbury

Wedding weekends of two or three nights

Round Room ceremonies for 30

Coach House ceremonies for 100

Orangery marquee for 120, March to October

12 bedrooms sleeping 24

Bonnington Cottage sleeps four more