A bit about us

THE HOUSE

Church House is a beautiful Georgian town house with large grounds in the old part of Kington, a quiet old market town in the lovely rolling hills of west Herefordshire, just 2 miles from the Welsh border. The house faces south-east, and all the rooms have fine views over Kington to the hills beyond. It is largely furnished with furniture in keeping with the house's 18th century character. If you would like to stay at a decent bed and breakfast in west Herefordshire, try Church House, Kington.

Breakfast is taken in our splendid dining room with its full-length sash window that gives onto the lawn. We are particularly proud of our home-made jams and marmalade - you'll get none of those nasty sachets of commercial preserves in this place! Outside, the lawn leads to a ha-ha, which is supposed to stop sheep grazing in our field from getting on to the lawn. (It doesn't always work!). Our guests are always welcome to use any part of the garden, and they can often be seen sitting for hours on a bench with a tray of tea and a good book, or snoozing in the sunshine on a rug.

THE HOSTS Your hosts at Church House are Lis and Andrew Darwin. We have lived here for 16 years and have been surprised at how much we've enjoyed doing bed and breakfast. We try to treat our paying guests as we might treat distant cousins paying a rare but welcome visit. So there are no bossy notices about the place, and no name plates on the doors. The beds are always made up with laundered pure cotton sheets. You will not find a kettle in your room, nor sachets of instant coffee or tea. You should be offered tea or coffee when you arrive - and if you want more, just ask. This is our home, not a guest house, and we intend to keep it that way! Lis is a professional classical singer, whose work often takes her abroad, leaving her long-suffering husband to hold the fort. Luckily he knows his place, and doesn't grumble.