Whitehall

One way of making money in the 15th century was to flourish in the wool trade. There was a lot of that in Essex. Then eventually you could afford a manor house like the one that is now the Whitehall Hotel Stansted. Today it is still there to be marvelled at - look at that wonderful beamed roof in the restaurant. Forget picture windows; small ones keep it cool in summer and warm in winter. It's a truly lovely restored Elizabethan Manor House and it's only a short drive from the hotel to London Stansted airport if you're heading up North or overseas. Reception can give you details of the Stay and Fly packages. What is difficult to describe is the peace that permeates every part of an ancient building; a calm that you can't build or design. It just takes a lot of years. What you can do is experience it. Of course, behind the scenes, you won't find Elizabethan plumbing and the candles are for effect. Your creature comforts are all in place. Dunmow is famous for the Dunmow Flitch; a competition to decide which married couple is the happiest. Win it and you get a flitch of bacon. It's a really quaint part of the country.