Madeleine Silver discovers The Arch – a masterclass in clever interiors nestled amid some of Wiltshire’s best sporting country
The Arch at Fonthill is cartoon grand: a soaring masterpiece built in 1755 to mark the entrance to the original Fonthill estate and welcome a steady flow of Georgian A-listers from Turner to Byron who visited this rolling corner of Wiltshire.
THE ARCH, FONTHILL
Perched on the hill beyond is Fonthill House, home of Lord Margadale, and sprawled out below is a slice of bucolic bliss for every season: hyperactive spring lambs, cricketers basking in a summer haze or the jostle of trailers lining the lane for the South & West Wilts hunt’s New Year Meet. You could happily swing under the arch, breathing a sigh of relief to have left the dawdling A303 behind, with eyes fixed only on a pint of Butcombe and the smart menu at the Beckford Arms beyond (think glazed figs with whipped goat’s curd or roasted venison loin with black pudding croquette). But hidden inside the arch is the pub’s latest ace card: a bolthole laid out over three floors with a pantry, boot room, sitting room, bedroom and bunk beds tucked in the roof, all connected by a spiral stone staircase.
When an estate woodsman who had…
