The Pig

The Pig might sound an odd name for a collection of charming country house hotels dotted throughout south-east England. But mention the name to in-the-know food-lovers and bon vivants and they’ll recall their experiences at the various PIGS with great affection.

The concept for this new style of country hotel came about some 15 years ago, when seasoned British hotelier, Robin Hutson, happened to wander through a hotel’s walled kitchen garden – unloved and full of weeds, near Brockenhurst in the heart of the New Forest.   

It sparked his imagination and he envisioned an informal, laid-back country hotel ensconced in the English countryside serving delicious, uncomplicated, home-style food – much of it from the kitchen garden – “a restaurant with rooms.” 

The idea soon became a reality, and the first PIG opened at Brockenhurst in 2010. Robin’s wife, Judy, stepped up to look after the interior furnishings – their son, Ollie, taking over the kitchen garden. He is now Group Head Kitchen Gardener.

The concept took root and today there are now nine in the litter of such charming country hotels – all with thriving kitchen gardens that produce much of the fresh produce around which their restaurants’ menus revolve. What they don’t grow or rear, they source from small producers within a 25-mile (40km) radius. They raise their own pigs, sheep, deer, hens, quail and even have bees that produce some 2000kg of honey a year.  

Checking into the original PIG near Brockenhurst as lunch guests – some 140 locals and tourists, are in full flight.  The gracious two-storey 1602 manor house has 30 guest rooms and boasts a huge Turkish oak tree out the front that dates from 1550. Our room, Saddleback, with clawfoot and rustic wooden floor, is in the Stables Block adjacent to the historic walled garden. Two pairs of colourful gumboots are thoughtfully placed by the door setting the scene for our bucolic stay. 

Up at the main house for pre-dinner drinks by the fire you can take your pick from several cosy fireside scenes in a handful of welcoming rooms with sink-into sofas, leather Chesterfields and club chairs, reminiscent of a comfortable but grand country home. A collection of colourful wine glasses create a feature wall behind the bar and the odd boar’s heads adorn lounge walls. Coffee table books and masses of plump cushions invite guests to unwind while intuitive waitstaff suggest timely cocktails – it’s as if you are the guests of landed gentry.

The 25-mile dinner menu reads like a gastronomic tour of the region – with an actual map on the reverse side showing the location of farms around the Forest and the Solent - butchers, cheeseries, bakeries and more where quality produce is sourced. Tile Barn Farm pork chop, Yarlington blue cheese and chicory salad, White Park roasted beef rib, poached Chalk Farm Stream trout, with salads and greens ‘mostly picked this morning’ from the kitchen garden. 

Their traditional steak and kidney suet pudding with garden greens is a stand-out.

Next morning, it’s time to take a tour of the garden that has yielded such goodness with one of three full-time gardeners at Brockenhurst. Row upon row of neatly tended plots of broccoli, kale, cavalo nero, carrots and more. In a small hothouse, myriad trays of micro-herbs thrive while pumpkins and squash also enjoy the inside warmth, cherry trees are planted alongside centuries-old brick walls to absorb winter heat and oyster and shiitaki mushrooms proliferate in polytunnels. The sustainable ‘no dig gardening’ technique is used here, which does not involve traditional tilling. Rather, layers of organic material are simply added to break down but not destroy the soil structure. This method helps create a healthy soil and stops releasing carbon into the atmosphere. There is a great collaboration between chefs and gardeners on planting plans, choosing what to grow and when so there is never any waste.

Packed and ready to set off, the ‘laird’ of THE PIG, Gary Orris in peaked woollen cap, appears and suggests he drive us in the hotel’s Land Rover into nearby Beaulieu to see some of the New Forest ponies, for which the area is known. These sturdy, compact horses with long flowing manes have the run of the town, meandering over the main roads and according to records, have grazed the region for thousands of years, even predating the latest Ice Age. Estimates of their numbers vary from 1000 to 5000. 

Later that morning, we head northwest between Bristol and Bath where a lovely 18th century Georgian home, Hunstrete House, set in 92 acres of deer park, dating as far back as 963 AD, has undergone ‘pigification’ to become the 24-bedroomed, THE PIG-near Bath. Their menu similarly champions small local producers, many in the Mendip Hills, with dishes such as Looe Harbour butterflied sardines, Woolley Park partridge breast, Berkeley Estate venison haunch and St Austell Bay mussels. 

Other PIG properties include THE PIG-on the beach – along Dorset’s World Heritage Coast at Swanage, THE PIG-at Combe – a honey-coloured Elizabethan gem nestled in the Otter Valley at Honiton, THE PIG-in the wall tucked away in the medieval city walls of Southampton and the smallest of the litter, THE PIG-at Bridge Place – just outside the historic village of Bridge in Canterbury, THE PIG-at Harlyn Bay – originally Harlyn House at coastal Padstow in Cornwall and THE PIG-in the South Downs – a 1770s Georgian home in the small hamlet of Madehurst in the South Downs. Some properties have massage treatment rooms with similarly rural monikers – the Fieldhouse, the Shepherds’ Hut or the Potting Shed.

The most recent property to open is THE PIG-in the Cotswolds – in the charming village of Barnsley near Cirencester. It comes with its very own Village Pub, which is a first for the PIG hotels. 

Quintessentially Cotswolds, this 17th Century property built of honey-coloured Cotswolds stone was originally Barnsley House, the former home of revered gardener, the late Rosemary Verey, considered the Queen of the Traditional English Country Garden. She has worked with King Charles at Highgrove and helped design Elton John’s garden at Woodside. Being on the National Heritage List of England, the garden – with an outstanding yellow laburnum walk, must remain in its original design – but there is a team of gardeners on hand to tend both the home and kitchen gardens. 

Buffet breakfasts are a treat at any PIG hotel with much local produce on offer such as Longman’s Dairy salted butter, Longbarrow Farm ham, Willy’s apple cider vinegar, Dorset live yoghurt, Heavenly Hedgerows jams and preserves, fresh home-grown fruits, apple and blackberry compote and Earl Grey stewed prunes presented in lovely heritage china bowls, jars of home-pickled carrots and radishes. 

It’s clear that management has fun with the barnyard name. 

The group’s monthly website news is called Pig Tales relating to seasonal produce, events and happenings. Its in-house biannual newsletter is called Hogwash – giving details of events and happenings at the various hotels, the odd food and cocktail recipe and interesting sustainability achievement figures such as: Over 1,000 candle ends have been collected, ready to recycle and turn into new ones.

While founders Robin and Judy Hutson recently announced their retirement, the group – under CEO Tom Ross who has been with the company since 2013, has already embarked on two more porcine projects. The first will be THE PIG-on the farm – a mid-16^th Century listed stone farmhouse south of Stratford-Upon-Avon; and the next, THE PIG-at Groombridge – a moated Jacobean manor house in the village of Groombridge, southwest of Tunbridge Wells, and a popular backdrop for numerous period films including Pride and Prejudice starring Keira Knightley.

So, while one little piggy might have gone to market, this other little piggy feels right at home – at any of THE PIGS.