Sporting stays to leave you restored

With period features, modern amenities and sport on the doorstep, these thoughtfully renovated pubs provide the perfect base for a countryside adventure, says Felix Petit

- says Felix Petit

The Bradley Hare, Wiltshire

A former 19th-century coaching inn, the Bradley Hare is nestled in the grounds of the Duke of Somerset's estate on the Wiltshire-Somerset border. Set in the village of Maiden Bradley on the edge of Cranborne Chase, it offers access to plenty of shooting country as well as being within walking distance of organic food producers, art galleries and artisan beauty treatments for those whose horizons extend beyond the sporting.

Within the Main House there are seven elegant bedrooms, and a further five larger rooms in the Coach House, several of which are dog friendly. Rooms are beautifully styled by James Thurstan Waterworth: everything the light touches is Farrow & Ball, and each private space is brimming with antique furnishings and luxurious fabrics. The curtains for the alcoved bed in ‘The Nest’ were inspired by a dress worn by Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII and sister of the 1st Duke of Somerset. In the bathrooms there are enormous rainfall showers, and you can mull over the day's missed birds submerged to the neck in one of the deep roll-top baths.

A welcoming bar leads into the lounge-style snug where Shirvan rugs sit side by side with contemporary art and rural curiosities ranging from stuffed hares to hunting boots. With space for 24 guests, the private dining room – the ‘Skittle Alley’ – is wonderfully set up for entertaining shooting parties.