It was described by contemporary writers such as Henry Avray Tipping, Christopher Hussey and the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne as an 'incomparable paradise', set in its remote valley as a Sleeping Beauty uninhabited for nearly a hundred years, a picturesque ruin, much decayed and overrun with ivy, and dwarfed by enormous yew trees.
This idyllic site was depicted by notable writers of the era, including Henry Avray Tipping, Christopher Hussey, and poet Algernon Charles Swinburne, who characterized it as an 'unmatched haven', situated in a secluded valley where a sleeping beauty had lain undisturbed for nearly a century, a charming yet dilapidated structure that was now overrun with ivy and dwarfed by massive yew trees.