I

f you’re after a serious slice of Elizabethan history, it doesn’t get much more authentic than this place.

Hidden away off a leafy lane near the Cotswold town of Tetbury, Chavenage House has hardly changed for over 400 years.

In fact it’s so authentic looking, that when you swing in through the gates and head up to the circular driveway outside the house, it wouldn’t seem strange to see a horse and carriage pulling up behind you.

If you do see one, it’s probably just a wedding party (they have a few here throughout the year) or perhaps a film crew (they’ve had plenty of those, too), but it could also be the famous ‘headless horseman’ who’s said to appear whenever the master of the house passes away.

The ghost is supposedly that of King Charles I no less, who was beheaded with the support of Colonel Stephens – lord of the manor here in 1648. That’s some serious royal retribution.

Take an intimate tour of the house with the current owner, David Lowsley-Williams, and you’ll get all the juicy gossip on this and the other ghosts that still walk Chavenage’s oak-panelled corridors.

You’ll also get to see the rooms where Oliver Cromwell and his General, Ireton, stayed in 1648 (look out for the swords, pikes and other Civil War relics), along with the other immaculate, wood-walled rooms.

Don’t forget to take a stroll around the peaceful gardens, though –there’s the occasional Shakespeare play put on here during the summer…