Brocket Hall
Welwyn, Hertfordshire. A Georgian estate of Lord Melbourne and Lord Palmerston with two championship courses, a lakeside restaurant and a 16-bedroom lodge, about 22 miles from London.
Brocket Hall is a Georgian country estate in Hertfordshire, about 22 miles from central London and roughly 15 minutes north of M25 junction 23. The Hall itself was completed in 1768 to a design by Sir James Paine. It later became the home of Lord Melbourne, Queen Victoria’s first Prime Minister, whose sister Emily married Lord Palmerston in 1839, and Victoria was a frequent visitor.
Golf and stay are both on the estate. Guests sleep at Melbourne Lodge, a small hotel of 16 en-suite bedrooms with views of the Hall, Broadwater Lake and the Melbourne course. For dinner there is Auberge du Lac, a lakeside restaurant in a former hunting lodge, and the Watershyppes Restaurant with an outdoor terrace.
There are two championship courses, both named after the estate’s famous residents. The Melbourne, a par 72 of around 6,500 to 6,600 yards, is a woodland and parkland layout with the River Lea in play. The Palmerston, a par 73 of about 7,000 yards designed by Donald Steel, is a tree-lined parkland course with strategic bunkering and a chalk pit at the par-4 12th. Both are well regarded, with the Melbourne ranked 11th in Hertfordshire by Top100GolfCourses.
For rounds beyond Brocket Hall’s own courses, tee times at private clubs need to be arranged in advance, and Golf Tours London can build them into a bespoke itinerary and organise transport between the hotel and the courses.
