Away with the fairies
Plett Villas are managing all bookings and enquiries for Forest Hall. Forest Hall is a magnificent estate on the outskirts of Plettenberg Bay. The Manor House and Cottages provide unique accommodation. Forest Hall is a very popular wedding venue with the beautiful grounds, atrium, forest, and dramatic coastline. Forest Hall has also featured as a film location on more than one occasion.
The Victorian Manor House, built in 1864, was one of the first homes built in the Crags and Plettenberg Bay area of the Garden Route. It was declared a Historical Monument by the South African Heritage authority in 1992 and has been splendidly restored to its original glory.
The original nineteenth-century yellow-wood and stinkwood floors, stairs, and doors of the home have been beautifully restored to show off the features that made these woods so prized for interiors and flooring. This and many other original aspects of the home, including the very close proximity of the same forest from which the wood was sourced, impart not only a sense of time and history but lend the house a uniquely natural and authentic feel. The atmosphere of a grand old family home still pervades and with it the peace and tranquillity of a time gone by and a slower, gentler experience of a less explored Africa.
Forest Hall Manor was built in 1862 by an English gentleman, William Henry Newdigate – the third son of Francis and Lady Barbara Newdigate of Astley Castle in Warwickshire,England. History tells us that he built the stately home for his beautiful bride, Caroline Duthie – the grand-daughter of George Rex of Knysna.
Walk into the pristine Tsitsikamma forest right on the property to learn about this ancient and unique African ecosystem – the home of the prized Yellowwood. The Tsitsikamma is a true ‘fairy forest’ and the name is an ancient Khoi word meaning ‘place of many waters’ due to the abundance of waterfalls to be found in the greater Tsitsikamma area.
Within the property boundaries of Forest Hall itself, exceptional hiking trails take you through the spectacular indigenous forest down to the private beaches at the foot of the cliffs. From the house, you can hike east through the forest to Salt River and from there either through more forest or along the rocky shoreline for a short distance to the popular Nature’s Valley beach and lagoon, or west along the coastline to Keurbooms. For the brave at heart, there is the Forest Hall Coastal Cave walk, which involves swimming through a cave – only possible at low tide. Please note that these hikes are challenging!
