Down Hall Hotel and Spa, Bishop’s Stortford’s most local stately home, is set in 110 acres of woodland, parkland and landscaped gardens with an intriguing royal connection. The first version of the imposing Italianate property in Hatfield Heath was a Tudor home, once owned by poet Matthew Prior, who commissioned Charles Bridgman to landscape its extensive grounds. Bridgeman was an innovative pioneer of the naturalistic landscape style know as jardin anglais.