As old as time Beckley Park, Oxfordshire

IT is easy to lose oneself searching for the rough track that leads to Beckley Park. Somehow, it is entirely fitting that the satnav deposits the bewildered visitor in the middle of the tall grasses and reeds of ancient fenland, for the three-gabled former hunting lodge stands on the edge of Otmoor, where kings once hawked and eels were plentiful.

Back on the right path, the high brick walls of the slim Tudor building soon appear above the surrounding woods and, leading over a brimming moat to the studded, oak front door, is a narrow cobblestone bridge that feels as old as time. In summer, roses and honeysuckle tumble about the outer walls, but, in winter, the garden that gathers around the three-moated building, which once belonged to the kings of England, is defined by its high yew hedges.

‘The yew hedges are so broad and flat on top, you feel as if you could lie