Some gardens announce themselves; Steane Park does the opposite. Tucked away on the edge of Brackley, about forty minutes south-east of the cottage, it's eighty acres of parkland, water and quiet surprises that most visitors to this part of England never hear about.
The estate dates back centuries, and the gardens have a layered, unhurried quality that comes from generations of careful planting rather than a single grand vision. There are fishponds fed by clear springs, a stone folly half-hidden by trees, and a Monet-style bridge arching over still water that genuinely stops you in your tracks on a summer morning. At the heart of it all sits a restored seventeenth-century chapel, simple and beautiful, its stonework cleaned back to pale gold. The whole place feels private and a little secret, even when the gates are open. It's the kind of garden where you find yourself walking slowly, noticing things: the way light falls through a canopy, the sound of water, the particular green of old moss on old stone.
Brackley itself is a pleasant market town with good pubs and independent shops, so you can easily build a half-day around the visit. The drive takes you through rolling countryside east of Banbury, past honey-coloured villages and quiet lanes. Steane Park opens for occasional garden days and events through the year, so it's worth checking before you set off. When the timing lines up, it is one of the loveliest places we know within reach of the cottage: genuinely peaceful, full of small beauties, and almost entirely overlooked.
“That bridge over the water stopped me cold. It's like someone planted a Monet painting in the Northamptonshire countryside and forgot to tell anyone.”
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.