We thought it was time to give a room tour of our exclusive use wedding venue with accommodation. If you’re wondering what an ‘exclusive use’ wedding venue entails, it means that our couples and their guests enjoy full use of our extensive gardens, state rooms and our twelve elegant bedrooms, from the moment of check in until departure. So, whether you’re interested in hearing about the history behind each individually chosen bedroom name or you’re hoping to see some images of our carefully restored bedrooms, we’ve got plenty of content for you below. Read on for more.
Northcote – The Wedding Suite at our Exclusive Use Wedding Venue with Accommodation
Named Northcote after Walter Stafford Northcote, the second Earl who lived at Pynes House, you’ll find the wedding suite at the top of the main stairs, overlooking the rose terrace and fountain. With a backdrop of the rolling Devonshire hills – you might just see the train from London going past in the distance too which is always pretty special.
A note on Walter Northcote – a huge admirer of Jane Austen, Northcote believed most fervently that his house was indeed the inspiration for Barton Park in Austen’s much-celebrated novel, Sense and Sensibility. Read more about the literary links and royal associations behind our exclusive use wedding venue with accommodation, here.
Stafford
This room was named after Hugh Stafford, the owner who built the original parts of the present house in 1700, creating Pynes House as we now know it. His developments included a magnificent stone entrance hall, designed by the celebrated architect of the day, Ambrose Poynter. Shortly after these works were completed, Sir Stafford is said to have welcomed Queen Victoria and Prince Albert into his home – a great honour for any house.
Believed to have been the very room which Queen Victoria stayed in during her visit to Pynes House, it’s for this that this bedroom has been named Stafford. Boasting views of the treelined driveway, with the rolling hills beyond, it’s a pretty special piece of history.
Stafford also has an adjacent room (Du Pin), which can be perfect for guests with children. The name Du Pin traces back to the very start of our Pynes House history, where the estate itself dates back to Norman Times. The Du Pin family arrived in England from Aquitaine in France with the court of Henry II. As knights of the Royal Court, King John later granted them land near Upton Pyne in Devon. For 10 generations, this was their home.
See more: Real weddings at our exclusive use wedding venue with accommodation
Copleston
Copleston has always been one of our favourite rooms and we’ve seen many brides opt to prepare for the wedding day in this light and airy corner of the house. Its four extensive windows give some pretty incredible views over the gardens and the river too.
It is named Copleston after the Copleston families which the Pynes Estate was passed to in the 17th Century. Sir Copleston, the then Sheriff of Devon, was knighted by Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England as a reward for his unwavering support of the parliamentary cause during the Civil War of 1642 – 1651. For more on this, head over to our page dedicated to the history of our exclusive use wedding venue with accommodation, here.
Larder
Another corner room, the Larder bedroom looks out onto the rose terrace on one side and the long driveway on the other. While this room had actually been converted into a (quite enormous) bathroom when we first arrived at Pynes House in 2011, we restored it back to the beautifully light and airy stately home bedroom which it once was. Similarly to Copleston, the Larder family was one of the families which the Pynes estate passed to, at the end of the 15th Century.
Iddesleigh
Iddesleigh is the first bedroom you’ll find at the top of the grand staircase at our exclusive use wedding venue with accommodation. Overlooking our gardens and lawn, this room has a gorgeous sense of tranquillity and has unrivalled views of the beautiful woodland.
Tilley
Moving up to the top floor, Tilley is the first room on the right once you emerge from the stairs. We began the refurbishment of our six second-floor bedrooms in 2016 – to say that they needed a little TLC after having not been occupied since the servants left during WWI would be a fair statement! Styled by our incredibly talented interior designer, Holly Keeling, we focused upon retain and enhancing the original features and feel of the house. We’ve got more on the renovation story of our exclusive use wedding venue with accommodation in our recent blog post on a look back at our time as a family run wedding venue, here.
An extra note on the top floor rooms – as a slight contrast to the rooms on the floor below, we’ve named the top floor rooms after our own family heritage.
Chambers
This bedroom has a lovely balcony, offering views of Stoke Woods in the distance and the rose gardens and fountain just below. Chambers is also often a popular choice for top floor preparations, as many wedding couples choose to get ready on different floors on the wedding morning, so to avoid any chances of accidentally seeing each other before the ceremony. The balcony is also always a lovely spot for group photos during morning preparations.
Charles & Fassnidge
From Charles, you’ll enjoy beautiful views of the treelined driveway. If you walk a little further down the hallway, you’ll find the Fassnidge bedroom too. From this room, you’ll have a view of the bell tower and also the central courtyard to the house. With a pale and elegant colour scheme, you’ll be able to truly unwind in this room and enjoy the natural beams on show.
Bauer & Foley
You’ll find these two rooms at the end of the corridor, facing outwards with extensive views of the woodland and gardens. As you walk through the hallway of the top floor, you might also notice individual bells above the doorways of some of the bedrooms and a strip of bells in the centre. Once used to alert servants, these bells carry quite the history behind them – read more on the history of our exclusive use wedding venue with accommodation here.
We hope that you’ve enjoyed the virtual room tour of our exclusive use wedding venue with accommodation. From our second floor bedrooms brimming with history to the top floor retreats with their original exposed beams and period wallpapers, our bedrooms have quite a few stories behind them. If you’re interested in hearing more about the history of our stately home wedding venue, have a look at our blog feature on the Pynes House history. Or, please do get in touch to book a private showround – we’d love to share our knowledge with you.