Regional & Seasonal: The Hundred House

A two-acre plot yields home-grown ingredients for an award-winning family run restaurant in Shropshire

In a sunny Shropshire garden, the weight of ripening crab apples, pears and apples is beginning to pull the boughs of trees and bushes downwards. Rows of herbs and edible flowers grow in abundance, while marrows, swelling pumpkins and gourds lurk under the trees. This is the beautifully maintained two-acre garden of The Hundred House hotel, located in the village of Norton, between Telford and Bridgnorth. It supplies many of the ingredients used by the restaurant at this family run business, owned by Henry Phillips and his sons David and Stuart. Henry is head gardener, while David manages the cellar, finance and maintenance, and is also developing a brewery at the hotel. Stuart is the executive chef, and he and his wife, Jo, run the front of house together. “We’ve been here for 32 years, so we are nearly local,” laughs Stuart. “We took it on in 1986, but I grew up in our previous pub, where I worked in the bar and restaurant.” At the age of 23, Stuart left home to train at a Michelin star restaurant at a hotel in Brittany. After writing to the hotel several times and receiving no reply, he decided to get on his bicycle and ride to France to see them. “I cycled from Buckinghamshire,” he says. “I had little more than my chef’s knives and a few francs, and begged them to let me into the kitchen.” The management agreed, and Stuart learned his craft there. He then worked at two Michelin star restaurants on home soil before re-joining the family at The Hundred House in 1992. “The building takes its name from the medieval administrative subdivisions of the shires of England into areas called hundreds,” explains Stuart. “The hundred courts survived until the 1840s, when they were superseded by the new county court districts. The 14th century black and white thatched barn at the front of the hotel was the courthouse for the region, while the building that is now the hotel is Georgian. It was added in the 19th century to cope with expanded trade from the Industrial Revolution, which started at Ironbridge.” The interior of the restaurant is a blend of traditional brickwork, beams and quarry tiles. There are richly coloured leaded lanterns and upholstery, and artwork by Stuart’s late mother, Sylvia Phillips, on the walls. Herbs from the garden dangle from the ceiling. Freshly-picked posies of herbs and flowers decorate the tables. “The garden was the work of my mother,” says Stuart. “It was transformed from a flat lawn into a magical garden with surprises and whimsy around every corner. In the summer, it’s also full of flowers, including many unusual varieties of roses.

“We grow 40-50 different herbs and edible flowers, including sorrel, six types of mint, mustard cress, three types of oregano, rocket, thyme, tarragon, chicory and fennel. We also grow quince, crab apples, pears, six varieties of tomato, rainbow chard, leeks, potatoes, carrots, beans, spinach and beetroot, all of which are used in the restaurant.” Local produce comes from within a 10-mile radius, including partridge, venison and pheasant from the Apley Estate, whose land The Hundred House lies on. Specials include torched fillet of mackerel; grilled salmon fillet with asparagus; and crab and Jersey royal salad with sorrel and nasturtiums, a new dish which has earned high praise from customers, says Stuart. Reaction as a whole has been very positive over the last three decades, leading to many consumer-voted awards, such as Best Independent Restaurant in Telford in 2017 and 2018. “I like to meet customers and talk to them. It’s fantastic to see their reactions, especially if it’s someone who hasn’t visited us before. Shropshire is a beautiful county of rolling hills and rivers and The Hundred House itself represents many years of love, work and investment from the family, which makes for a vibrant place to welcome guests.