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Hotel United Kingdom Kent

THE PIG at Bridge Place

A Jacobean House in the Garden of England
Book THE PIG at Bridge Place for Book THE PIG at Bridge Place
Just outside Canterbury, THE PIG-at Bridge Place occupies a 17th-century red-brick manor surrounded by water meadows, orchards, hop gardens and vineyards. Behind its Jacobean walls lies an unexpected past: before becoming a PIG, Bridge Place was one of Kent’s legendary music venues, hosting Led Zeppelin, The Kinks and The Yardbirds.

Story

Bridge Place was built around 1638 for Sir Arnold Braems, the first manager of Dover Harbour and a well-connected figure of Restoration England. Samuel Pepys mentions Braems several times in his diary, while a 17th-century visitor described Bridge Place as a house known for its hospitality and lively company.

Centuries later, that sociable spirit returned in a very different form. As Bridge Place Country Club, the house became a celebrated Kent music venue, with Led Zeppelin, The Kinks, The Moody Blues and The Yardbirds among the bands that played here. THE PIG restored the house and opened in 2019, preserving its panelling, fireplaces, secret staircases and wonderfully irregular rooms.

Why we selected THE PIG at Bridge Place

A country house with a rock-and-roll past
Few historic hotels can claim both 17th-century society gatherings and Led Zeppelin gigs. That collision of Jacobean history and 1970s music culture gives Bridge Place a personality entirely its own.
At the heart of English wine country
Kent’s chalk soils and climate have created one of England’s most important wine regions. Bridge Place actively champions the Wine Garden of England, with estates including Simpsons, Domaine Evremond, Gusbourne and Chapel Down surrounding it.
A landscape shaped by hops and orchards
This is classic Kent: apple orchards, hop gardens and agricultural land. Even the bedrooms reference that heritage, with Hop Pickers’ Huts raised above the water meadows.
One of THE PIG’s biggest Kitchen Gardens
Long polytunnels, fruit cages, raised beds, beehives and heritage glasshouses make this one of the most substantial productive gardens in the collection.

Local life & traditions

Kent has been called the Garden of England for centuries, shaped by fruit growing, hop farming and fertile agricultural land. Autumn is particularly important: apples are pressed, vineyards harvest their grapes and freshly picked hops are turned into seasonal Kent Green Hop Beer.

Today, another tradition is transforming the landscape. Vineyards now spread across Kent’s chalky slopes, making English wine increasingly central to the region’s identity — something Bridge Place celebrates particularly strongly through its cellar and relationships with nearby estates.

Authentic experiences in the area

Taste the Wine Garden of England

Visit nearby vineyards such as Simpsons Wine Estate in the Elham Valley, before returning to Bridge Place to explore a wine list heavily rooted in Kent.

Experience Kent at harvest time

Come in autumn to see the region at its most distinctive: hop picking, apple pressing, vineyard harvests and the brief season of Kent Green Hop Beer.

Explore Canterbury and the Kent countryside

Spend a morning among Canterbury’s medieval streets and cathedral before heading back into the surrounding villages, orchards and rolling countryside.

Walk through one of THE PIG’s largest gardens

Join the daily Kitchen Garden tour through heritage glasshouses, raised beds, fruit cages and polytunnels, discovering what will appear on the menu that day.

Protecting culture & land

The restoration deliberately retained Bridge Place’s historic eccentricities — Jacobean panelling, fireplaces, small doorways, secret staircases and irregular spaces. Newer additions, including the Coach House and reclaimed-timber Hop Pickers’ Huts, were designed around the existing house and water-meadow landscape.

Its food system keeps the relationship with Kent equally tangible: the Kitchen Garden is supplemented by a 25-mile network of cheesemakers, bakeries, vineyards and other independent producers.

Location & surroundings

Bridge Place sits in the Nailbourne Valley, just outside the village of Bridge and around three miles south of Canterbury.

Water meadows surround the house, while beyond them lie Kent’s vineyards, hop gardens, orchards and the Kent Downs. The coast is also close enough for days in Whitstable, Deal, Sandwich and Margate, giving the hotel an unusually good position between rural Kent, historic Canterbury and the sea.

Key details

Address

THE PIG at Bridge Place
Bourne Park Road
Bridge, Canterbury
Kent CT4 5BH

Getting here

By plane: Florence and Perugia airports (approx. 1h 30m by car)
By train: Torrita di Siena (25 minutes)
Private transfers and helicopter arrivals can be arranged

Facilities

31 individually designed rooms
Heritage glasshouses
Potting Shed treatments
Kitchen Garden tours
Extensive gardens and water meadows

More

Two family Lodges
Built: c.1638

Every stay booked direct keeps value with the people of this place, so they can reinvest in culture, community and land

We believe travel should give back more than it takes; that it can protect cultures, not erode them.

That is why we connect you directly with each hotel’s own website. By booking direct, value remains in the hands of those who shape these places, enabling reinvestment into local culture, community, and land.

Book THE PIG at Bridge Place direct. Play a part in preserving the culture, community and landscape of this place.

Book Now
Hotel United Kingdom Kent

THE PIG at Bridge Place

A Jacobean House in the Garden of England
Book Now
Every stay booked direct keeps more value in the hands of the people who shape this place, so they can reinvest in local culture, community and land.

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