The Credentials
Set in the village of Southrop, family-run Thyme is described by owner Caryn Hibbert as a ‘village within a village.’ A mere ninety minutes from West London it’s well situated for a day trip, but be warned, you’ll regret it if you don’t stay.
Whilst there’s a lot going on, Thyme is a place that feels considered. Where every detail; from the soft linen napkins to the complimentary cookies, has been thoughtfully cultivated by skilled heads and hands. There’s a sense that Thyme, much like its eponymous plant, has matured slowly, establishing sturdy roots before producing leaves. And boy, has it come into bloom! In fact, there are so many leafy fronds and branches, that it’s not easy to determine exactly what Thyme is. Sure, it’s a country house hotel, but it’s also much more than that.
What started with a cookery school in the early 2000s soon expanded into dining with the acquisition of Southrop’s pub, The Swan. They then added rooms, The Meadow Spa, The Ox Barn Restaurant, The Baa Bar, The Orchid House Cafe, The Bertioli Shop and I’m lucky enough to bag a ticket to Thyme’s latest endeavour, ‘The Happenings,’ a series of monthly talks that take place in the 17th century Tithe Barn.
Thyme goes beyond sitting comfortably in its surroundings. It enhances them – not that chocolate-boxy Southrop needs enhancement, because if there’s an ugly side to the village, we don’t find it. In fact, Southrop seems so relentless in its dedication to the ‘The Cotswold idyll’ that every door, fence and window frame is painted in complimentary heritage tones. There are thatched cottages, a well-maintained village green and more wisteria than you can wang a Le Chameau welly at. The surrounding countryside is equally bucolic, featuring all the usual entries on your rural bingo card; ‘dry stone walls’, ‘wild woodland’ and ‘well-kept pastures’ which are home to Thyme’s herd of Welsh Black Mountain Sheep, whom we’ll circle back to in due (main) course.
Sleep
Thyme has thirty-one bedrooms, of which five are garden rooms with private outdoor spaces and gas-lit fire bowls.
We stayed in ‘Love in The Mist’. A monochromatic open-plan room in powder pink. There’s a lavish bathroom area, a generous roll-top bath and there are gold lamps and chandeliers at every turn. Spending time in ‘Love in the Mist’ is a bit like falling face-first into a vat of pink champagne; there’s a camp, old-Hollywoodness to the room that falls just on the right side of Barbie-Dream-House. It’s The Beverly Hills Hotel reimagined as an English Country House – but there are privets where there would be palms and wrought iron chairs in lieu of striped loungers. The chunky brass fittings are beautifully juxtaposed by daughter brand Bertioli’s delicate botanical textiles and of course… (a very locally sourced) sheepskin rug.
There are no mini-bars at Thyme, but guests are provided with homemade cookies and little bottles of premixed Old Fashioned that are cocktail bar quality (and according to my husband) best enjoyed in the bath.
Dine
We dine at Thyme’s restaurant, The Ox Barn, which is run by Caryn’s son Charlie, who previously worked under Jeremy Lee at Soho’s Quo Vadis. The sensitively restored agricultural building serves well-loved British and European dishes, using produce from Thyme’s own garden, farm and orchard.
We take our seats on a blue velvet banquette and gaze upwards to marvel at the original herringbone rafters. The space is vast.
‘How big is an ox?’ queries my Hackney-born husband. “‘Ox’ is just another word for a ‘bull” I confidently reply, hoping to put an end to the discussion. But he Googles it under the table and it turns out I’m wrong – oxen are not cows, they are enormous draft animals previously used for towing farm machinery… there go my ‘country girl’ credentials. My husband celebrates his mini-victory with an exquisitely made house Negroni that replaces Campari with Gentian, a liquor distilled from the roots of the alpine-dwelling flower.
We begin with locally sourced coppa and speck – served with pickled cornichons that cut through the melt-in-the-mouth fat. For the starter, we share a plate of Clams with Pancetta; juicy, plump bivalves drenched in a classic cream and white wine sauce and served beneath a generous slice of deep-fried sourdough.
The sole is served upon a bed of monk’s beard and arrived golden, flaky and swimming in brown butter. My husband chose the mutton – yes, of the same herd that we made friends with on our walk – a fact that would have been utterly devastating, had it not been so delicious. The mutton is served upon a bed of creamy polenta with flashes of green nettle, artichokes with a punchy salsa verde bring a welcome acidity to an otherwise earthy dish.
To finish we shared a chocolate mousse that evoked memories of licking the bowl before one of my parents’ 90s dinner parties. Made with high-quality dark chocolate and minimal sugar – it’s a refined take on the classic dessert.
To drink… a bottle of the Special Reserve White from the Poulton Hill Estate, a vineyard a mere five minutes away. I didn’t enjoy it as much as their sparkling, but it did pair quite well with the seafood dishes.
Breakfast is also served in the Ox Barn. The menu is well-rounded and the service is delightfully informal and not at all intrusive.
The pain au chocolat is crisp and the fruit plate, seasonal. I’m not usually a fan of rhubarb, so I try to hide my disappointment when it arrives on top of the granola bowl. My feeling is, that if you have to drench something in molten sugar to make it tasty, perhaps it isn’t very tasty in the first place. But hold the front page of the Thymes (yes – they also have their own publication), because here it is firm, spiced and ever so slightly astringent. I am a born-again rhubarbarian!
My husband declares the full English to be one of the best he’s ever had. Excellent quality sausages have plenty of colour but retain their juices. The streaky bacon is crisp, and the black pudding… a highlight. The poached eggs are cooked to perfection; so much so, that we even managed to capture the moment when the sunshine-coloured yolk spilt cinematically across the plate for the ‘gram.
Recently refurbished by Caryn’s daughter and General Manager, Camilla, Thyme’s very own pub, The Swan is visually speaking: a feast. It’s a celebration of English eccentricity, a colourful take on the traditional country pub. Brightly hued florals fizz against rustically charming bare Cotswold stone. It’s the sort of place my dad would hate, but for context, he hit the roof when his local stopped serving food in baskets. There’s a striped private dining room in verdant hues and the bar features poppy millennial artworks in pastel-coloured frames. Ceramic swan-shaped salt and pepper shakers are a fun reminder that you’re in thoughtful hands and are available to purchase in the Bertioli shop.
Food at The Swan is good value and unfussy. Crispy polenta with sage is deep-fried to perfection and is soft and buttery inside. The radish, fennel and baby gem salad is doused in a tangy buttermilk dressing which pairs well with a glass of crisp chardonnay. The Poussin and Chips is a refined take on the pub staple; the chips are crisp and the poussin arrives with crispy skin and is served in a pool of unctuous lemony gravy.
Out & About
I’m lucky enough to visit on the day that interior designer and purveyor of natural paint, Edward Bulmer is in discussion with Giles Kime, Interiors Editor for Country Life. The event is part of a series of ‘happenings’ which sees a leading creative host a discussion on their new book on the last Friday of every month.
The Tithe Barn was packed. I suspect every interior designer in the Cotswolds was in attendance. And a talk on paint could have gone either way for a layman like me. There’s an obvious joke to make here, but I don’t need to make it because the hour is illuminating – both from a design perspective and ecologically speaking. My husband doesn’t know it yet, but when we get home, we’re redecorating the entire flat.
The Spa
The spa features an emerald-coloured spring water pool. It opens for the summer on the day of our stay and I’m afraid to report, that due to a lingering sniffle thanks to an eternity of British monsoon season, I decline the opportunity to be the first guest of 2023 to take the plunge. But I hope dearly to return in warmer months and to have the opportunity to sample some of the healthy dishes served by the newly opened poolside cafe The Orchid House.
The Details
Thyme is a place where the future has been considered as much as the past. No cling film is used in the kitchens and biomass heating reduces their reliance on fossil fuels. Decorated using natural paints and materials, the team’s unwavering commitment to reducing plastic saw the invention of Bertioli’s three-in-one soap, which is packaged in a single cardboard box.
As my perennially tardy yoga teacher once told me, ‘Time’ is but a concept, but I would venture that ‘Thyme,” is more than that. What The Hibberts have created here, is not a lifestyle brand, it’s a thoughtful way of living that considers its people, structures and environment above all else. And they’re keen to share it with you, there’s a generosity of spirit here that is deeply attractive. You get the sense that these are good folk doing good things and it’s impossible not to want to be a part of that.
A stay at Thyme starts from £400 per night.
See a full list of Spring and Summer events here, which include culinary masterclasses, talks and creative workshops. Currently exhibiting work by renowned American artist Jane Hammond whose work is in museum collections across the US. The exhibition is in collaboration with the Lyndsey Ingram Gallery and is up until the end of May.
The Swan is open for lunch from 12 pm to 2.30 pm and dinner from 6 pm to 9 pm from Wednesday to Saturday. On Sundays, lunch is served between 12 pm to 3.30 pm
The Ox Barn is open for lunch on Friday and Saturday between 12:00 pm – 2:30 pm, and on Sunday between 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm and is open daily for dinner.
Thyme, Southrop Manor Estate, Gloucestershire
