BIRTSMORTON Court is planning to open up its 1,100-year-old doors to wedding couples looking for that perfect romantic setting.

The ancient house, which is set in 400-acres of gardens and farmland near Birtsmorton, is hoping to host wedding parties this summer.

Owner Nigel Dawes has just applied for a certificate of lawfulness to hold civil wedding ceremonies and said he is hoping the medieval, moated house will prove very popular.

Prospective wedding couples can take their pick of the Banqueting Hall, the Great Hall or the more unusual Motor Museum, which has been converted into a function room.

"We've kept all the old pictures up in the motoring museum which makes it a little bit different from the normal Hay Wain pictures," said Mr Dawes.

Together with the atmospheric rooms, Birtsmorton Court also boasts wonderful gardens.

The family recently created the White Garden to celebrate the Millennium.

Totally enclosed by an ornamental hedge, the garden is full of white flowers, trees and shrubs, arbours and a fountain. Step outside and you are greeted by a wild profusion of colour in the surrounding borders which separate the White Garden from the neighbouring ornamental vegetable garden, also recently created.

The house also boasts historical references - an ancient yew still grows in the gardens under which Cardinal Wolsey reputedly slept in the "shadow of the Ragged Stone", a large lake and the Westminster Pool, which was created in Henry VII's reign.

Mr Dawes said he had been thinking of opening up the house and gardens for functions for the past four years.

The gardens have been open for many years under the National Gardens Scheme and in aid of the Red Cross.

"All these houses have got to go into commercial business to keep them running because the upkeep is so tremendous," he said.

"Also, they're such wonderful properties, one wants to keep them in good repair. When people come here they get a feeling of it being a home and of course, it's an incredibly romantic house."

Birtsmorton Court gardens will be open on Sunday, July 17.

For more information, call 01684 833888.