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Thought Somerset was all about Glastonbury? Think again. Thanks to game-changing galleries, quirky boutique hotels and a slew of sustainable restaurants, the medieval town of Bruton is bursting with the kind of creative, unconventional energy that makes for an offbeat weekend country break.
07 October, 2020
Orchards unfurl across meadows threaded by the River Brue. Lanes flanked by hedgerows overflowing with cow parsley give way to narrow streets lined with Hamstone cottages and medieval churches. From up on Lusty Hill, a 16th-century dovecote broods over the seemingly sleepy West Country town of Bruton.
As locations go, it's an unassuming spot for a cosmopolitan enclave of bon vivants. Tucked between Yeovil and Frome, with a population that hovers around 3,000 and a social life that hugs a single street, this South Somerset bolthole proves that good things come in small packages. Since the internationally renowned Hauser & Wirth gallery opened here in 2014, Bruton has enjoyed a flourish of popularity. Today, it punches far above its featherweight when it comes to world-class contemporary art, design-driven boutique hotels, sustainable farm-to-table restaurants and idiosyncratic shops that have earned it cult status among those in the know.
Correspondingly, a who's who of city-dwelling celebs and media types have decamped to the sticks, bringing with them a sprinkle of stardust that has given this medieval market town a moniker of "Notting Hill-on-Brue". Yes, Bruton has since been ranked among the "coolest" and "most fashionable" places to live in the UK, but snobbishness is kept at bay by a collective, unadulterated pursuit of the good life. This is a place that is as communal as it is bucolic, albeit in a thoroughly modern, cultured guise.
For years, poor transport connections meant that Bruton avoided the radar of Londoners seeking a break from the Big Smoke; now the number of train services running between here and Paddington Station clock in around four each day (and take roughly two and a half hours), making a car-free micro-break more do-able, but keeping it far enough off the beaten path that it's not overrun with visitors.
We've consulted locals, perused galleries, trodden country trails and quaffed a good amount of Burrow Hill cider in a bid to find the best places to stay and play in Bruton.
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