About Layer Marney Tower
Layer Marney Tower is Lord Marney's Tudor palace, with beautiful buildings, gardens and parkland dating from 1520. Located just a few miles from Colchester in Essex, it is a year round weddings and conference venue and open to visitors from Apr-Oct.
Reviews
Mulberry gin from your own tree I see
Don't forget to get your tickets for Cameo Players performance of A Pickwick Christmas on 7 December 7.15 pm at Layer Marney Tower, join Mr Pickwick and his traveling companions for festive music, drama and joviality. Tickets from 01206 366000
Earlier in the year, these photos were taken as part of a feature on this fantastic VW Camper Van that belongs to David Mitchell. It was immaculate inside and out! The photos and article (by Paul Bussey) featured in the magazine Volkswagen Camper and Commercial.
Thank you to EPS Photography for sharing these beautiful images taken at a recent wedding. Many congratulations to Mr and Mrs Calderbank!
Some great footage from a wedding back in the summer...those hot and sunny days seem a distant memory!
Fantastic official photos from a recent wedding. Beautiful images David Islip Photography, as always!
We are very sad to announce that family pet and resident cat "Orlando" passed away peacefully earlier this week. He will be greatly missed by all, including the many visitors to Layer Marney Tower that befriended him. He was well known for having appeared in so many wedding photo albums!
Christmas really is coming
A selection of photos from two weddings last week; both very beautiful but very different in style to each other. Many congratulations to newly-wed Mr and Mrs Woraker and Mr and Mrs Noone, we are so happy you chose to celebrate here!
This is a wonderful collection of solders who fought all over the world
Remember last year.... Great presents
During the wedding ceremony on Saturday, the wedding party were able to enjoy live music performed by Caroline of Music By Violin Why not take a look at her facebook page and listen to a sample from her repertoire?
We are looking forward to seeing lots of people at this lovely walk for a fantastic charity.
A beautiful shot of the newly-wed Mr and Mrs Britton - congratulations to you both!
It was fantastic to see so many of our booked wedding couples yesterday at the Open Day, plus lots of new people looking round for the first time; thank you all for attending! We were also very pleased to see Jim and Ali, with their daughter Elizabeth, who have just celebrated their first anniversary - it was great to catch up with you all! Lovely to chat about your memories of the day. If you were unable to attend the Open Day and would like to look round at some other time, please get in touch with us to arrange an appointment.
Fine Cell Work are here, busily unpacking bags and boxes of fabulous cushions made by prisoners, for sale tomorrow, 2nd November. Christmas shopping sorted. The sale is from 10.00 - 4.00 pm
We believe that the catering at your wedding day is so important and we feel very lucky to be able to offer the services of our trusted caterer Bouquet Garni Caterers. At our Wedding Open Day on Sunday, Bouquet Garni wll be tempting you with tasty samples from their extensive menus...will you be able to resist? Please pop along to have a look round the venue between 11am and 3pm and have a chat with the team from Bouquet Garni. They will happily interpret your ideas and be able to advise and make suggestions.
Well where do I start! We booked Layer Marney Tower for our wedding reception on 15th October 2016 and Karen and her team were fantastic in ensuring the booking went smoothly. We had Graham and the Silver Cloud booked for our transport and he was a complete gentleman. Arrived on time to take me to our ceremony venue ( we got married in our local registry office) and then waited patiently to take us to Layer Marney Tower afterwards. Layer Marney is just a beautiful venue and maintained to a very high standard, exactly what we wanted for our reception venue. We also booked BG for the catering! Charlotte and her team were fantastic. We dropped all our decorations off in boxes the day before our wedding and she made our venue look incredible. We had such an amazing day and would definitely recommend booking Layer Marney for a day to remember!
We love visiting. A chance to experience an historical beauty! The village fete is great - traditional fun. We don’t mind paying, money raised pays to maintain the lovely church. The other events we’ve been to have been enjoyable too ( especially our wedding!)
We had the pleasure of marrying here on Friday 2nd June. Me & Paul fell in love with the place as soon as we visited in 2015. I can't thank the staff enough, nothing was too much trouble. Everything was perfect and we were looked after from start to finish. The Tower is amazing and the grounds are so beautiful. So many memories were made that day and I can't wait to return soon. Please send our thanks to everyone involved and to the owners who allow their beautiful home to be hired for special occasions x
We had our wedding here in August 2016. We cannot recommend this venue, the Charringtons and their staff highly enough. If you are looking to book your wedding please consider this venue, you will not be disappointed. The price includes an old fashioned Rolls Royce and an overnight stay for the bride and groom. I have to say I had the best shower I've ever had in the wet room! There is also an additional hire of an old route master bus which went down very well with our guests. The owners and staff were very accommodating in setting up the ceremony and reception rooms, we were allowed to bring our own musicians in during the day (even though they were open to the public) and were happy for us to have a firework display in the evening. Layer Marney Tower, I married my best friend but you also have a piece of my heart.
We got married there and revisited for our anniversary for the day and it’s just beautiful. For wedding days you get really looked after and everything runs so smoothly. Couldn’t have asked for a better place to hold our special day. Best day of my life
We got married at Layer Marney Tower two weeks ago and couldn't imagine a better venue! Having grown up so close to Layer Marney, it seemed like the perfect choice for our wedding venue when we got engaged and it exceeded our expectations! We had our ceremony in the Corsellis room and reception in the Long Gallery, both of which are beautiful rooms. The tower itself and grounds provided a stunning backdrop for our photos, as fortunately the weather was kind to us. We had so many comments from our guests saying how incredible the venue was!! Our guests really enjoyed the Routemaster bus, and arriving in the Maythorn, chauffeur driven by Graham (who was wonderful!), was just fantastic! The whole team have been brilliant to deal with, answering all our queries very promptly and ensuring everything ran smoothly on the day. We had the most magical day at this beautiful venue and would not hesitate to recommend it!
Visited yesterday for a fairly quick visit with my son so that he could take photos of the beautiful scenery and stunning buildings. We had a lovely wander round and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The gardens are beautiful and the view from the tower is stunning. We finished off with a tasty piece of cake which was very enjoyable. Well worth a visit. We will return.
Visited last Wednesday. We arrived just after 12.00pm to find the car park packed. Due to bad parking, there were some spaces not quite big enough to get in. With marked parking, several more cars could have parked.
The cafe area is in the stables, so some empty seats not accessible. We did manage to squeeze in for some soup and a roll as the lunch crowd was thinning out. As the kitchen appears to be in there, one wonders why part of the Long Barn is not used for the cafe. We saw waitresses struggling across the yard with trays of crockery, trying to avoid being tripped up by small children running about.
Enjoyed all the buildings and history, but we were dissapointed to find the access to the roof was closed after our 70 year old knees had struggled to the top! Maybe a sign at the bottom, to advise, when the door is locked?
Sadly we missed the lamb feeding and could not understand why they were all huddled at one end of the barn in a draft, when there were heat lamps at the other end. Silly babies.
All in all, although it was cold, we enjoyed our day, and will definitely be back.
Paul and I had the absolute pleasure of getting married here on Sunday 19th March 2017 and I cannot thank the staff enough for well and truly making our special day one to remember. The grounds are amazing and the backdrop of the Towers is just beautiful. This is a must see venue for any couples planning on getting married and Karen was fantastic with us from the very first meeting right up until the morning after the night before lol. Thank you again Layer Marney Tower, you will forever be in our hearts x
Nicholas and his team did an amazing job today for our work way day with 200 people. The venue is spectacular and Nicholas is a fantastic host, we could not have asked for more and the Layer Marney Tower team certainly couldn’t have done more. Wonderful sums our experience today!
My Fiancé & I were at a loss as to where to go. He looked up "Events near me" & found Layer Marney tower.
So it wasn't a planned trip.
The lady who greeted us at the gift shop & entrance was really friendly, as was the beautiful cat who paraded around purring.
We saw chickens, goats and horses all very well looked after.
The grounds were amazing, lovely to walk around. We looked at all the attractions including The Long hall,the church & the Tower.
There was a Tower tour while we were there. We initially joined it, but found the loud woman, a bit like a retired school teacher, very condescending, and bossy so we explored the tower ourselves.
It was hugely interesting, especially the wonderful dolls house. I photographed every room.
The view from the top of the tower was well worth the climb.
A good day out.
Layer Marney is awesome and the family and staff who run it are lovely. I feel forever indebted to them for some magical memories they have given my children including 'meeting' Henry VIII at Tudor Day, dancing around the Maypole (where else can you do that these days?), Tudor Christmas and old fashioned Halloween (without the scare fest you get everywhere else). Oh and not to forget the lambs in Spring! Only sad thing is that some of these events seem to have been discontinued, which is a real shame. Please keep doing everything that you do because you're awesome!
Gregg and I got married at Layer Marney Tower on the 5th August 2017 midday and absolutely loved it!! We had visited the Tower in the past way before we were engaged and we both loved the place and history. It wasn't till we looked around for wedding venues, we had such a lovely feeling of the place and knew it was the perfect venue to get married. The staff were amazing! So quick with responding with questions. Karen was our wedding coordinator and couldn't have asked for a better one. Even after the wedding we accidentally left my horse shoes in the garden and Karen got in contact with the bride which got married the same day as me but in the afternoon (someone from her party took my horse shoes by mistake) and Karen sorted it all out for me whilst I was away (thank you so much!!) Plus I have to thank the Bride who brought my horse shoes back to Layer Marney, thank you so much!! It rained very heavily after the ceremony when we were outside having photos, the owner came out to give us umbrellas, was so lovely of him! Anyway, if your thinking on a beautiful historical venue with great staff, get married at Layer Marney Tower!! Thank you so much again for the perfect day. Imogen & Gregg Masters
Got married here 2 weeks ago, couldn't ask for a better or more unique wedding venue! The staff are very helpful and friendly, always there if you need them!
The reception room was lovely and the grounds where we had photos, bubbles and canapés are fab, not to mention the long gallery where we all enjoyed a 3 course meal!!
The bar was a delight, along with the driver who was super...would reccommend to anyone xx
Goodness, where to start... Ali and I were recently married at Layer Marney Tower on the 21st October 2017. It was the dream day in an amazing place and made even more so by the wonderful people who worked so tirelessly to make it happen. Always a smile and an honest answer. Nothing was too small or too much trouble. Karen, our wedding coordinator, was fantastic even after the umpteenth question and visit!
We were fortunate to have both our ceremony and reception here, which then includes the use of the Rolls Royce, so we didn't need to worry about wedding transport either. Bouquet Garni, the caterers, where excellent. Beautiful food and service.
Having our wedding later in the year meant it was just cold enough to get away with the fire lit in the Long Gallery, during the wedding breakfast. It adds such a wonderful ambiance to the proceedings. As it turned out, the weather was very kind on our day, so we were still able to have drinks and canapes outside on the lawn. So, definitely don't discount that "non-summer" wedding!
It was Ali's childhood dream to marry at Layer Marney and it delivered in every way possible.
To everyone at Layer Marney Tower: You made our perfect day, perfect.
Love, Ali & Jim xx
Beautiful place lots of history and spectacular views for miles would highly recommend for a day out. my family attended a wedding there and if you want the fairy tale wedding this is the place to have it. Highly recommend it thankyou for a perfect day
An amazing venue. We, Eclipse Live Music, have just worked with Nicholas at Layer Marney Tower performing three sets of music for the wedding of Lydia and Terry. It is a truly stunning venue for a wedding. Nothing was too much trouble and we thoroughly enjoyed working with them. The private rooms created an unique backdrop for each part of the day. The Corsellis Room for the ceremony, the grounds for canapés and photos and the Long Gallery for the wedding breakfast and reception. A great pairing with Caterers Bouquet Garni ensured a wonderful all day experience.
A simply stunning and beautiful wedding venue! I was the main wedding photographer for Alice & Paul's wedding on the 30/07/2017. I can not stress enough how wonderful this place is. As a wedding photographer it is right up mu street in terms of what it offers brides and grooms - Also, Karen and her team are exceptional, and leave no stone unturned in search of excellence!
Not a review of layer marney tower itself as the grounds are lovely however this is a review of their fete they put on today which was ridiculously expensive for what it was and they don’t tell you the price on any of their advertising so you get a shock at the gate.
Extremely disappointed with today.
Planned our day out with our little one and decided to come to this “village fete” and absolutely no where does it say that it’s £9.00 per adult and then £5.00 for a child.
That’s a ridiculous amount of money for a so called village fete with very little there!
There was nothing there to justify that kind of price and it’s hard to just walk away when you have a little one with you!
The stalls were all very basic, a very small bouncy castle and and there was possibly four “stalls” that actually had anything to do which included smash a plate, hook a duck in a paddling pool using a broken golf club with a coat hanger hook stuck to the end, a plastic rocket on a string and roll a tennis ball through a hole. All fine for a little village fete or school fair but not for an event that’s charging so much with nothing else to offer. There was maybe May 10 stalls in total.
I’ll gladly spend money on an event when there is actually something there to do but if you weren’t part of the dog show (which cost more) then there was barely anything there and it was all very budget and very disappointing.
You should have advertised the prices rather than spring them on people at the gate. Way too expensive.
Well where do I start! We booked Layer Marney Tower for our wedding reception on 15th October 2016 and Karen and her team were fantastic in ensuring the booking went smoothly. We had Graham and the Silver Cloud booked for our transport and he was a complete gentleman. Arrived on time to take me to our ceremony venue ( we got married in our local registry office) and then waited patiently to take us to Layer Marney Tower afterwards. Layer Marney is just a beautiful venue and maintained to a very high standard, exactly what we wanted for our reception venue. We also booked BG for the catering! Charlotte and her team were fantastic. We dropped all our decorations off in boxes the day before our wedding and she made our venue look incredible. We had such an amazing day and would definitely recommend booking Layer Marney for a day to remember!
We love visiting. A chance to experience an historical beauty! The village fete is great - traditional fun. We don’t mind paying, money raised pays to maintain the lovely church. The other events we’ve been to have been enjoyable too ( especially our wedding!)
We had the pleasure of marrying here on Friday 2nd June. Me & Paul fell in love with the place as soon as we visited in 2015. I can't thank the staff enough, nothing was too much trouble. Everything was perfect and we were looked after from start to finish. The Tower is amazing and the grounds are so beautiful. So many memories were made that day and I can't wait to return soon. Please send our thanks to everyone involved and to the owners who allow their beautiful home to be hired for special occasions x
We had our wedding here in August 2016. We cannot recommend this venue, the Charringtons and their staff highly enough. If you are looking to book your wedding please consider this venue, you will not be disappointed. The price includes an old fashioned Rolls Royce and an overnight stay for the bride and groom. I have to say I had the best shower I've ever had in the wet room! There is also an additional hire of an old route master bus which went down very well with our guests. The owners and staff were very accommodating in setting up the ceremony and reception rooms, we were allowed to bring our own musicians in during the day (even though they were open to the public) and were happy for us to have a firework display in the evening. Layer Marney Tower, I married my best friend but you also have a piece of my heart.
We got married there and revisited for our anniversary for the day and it’s just beautiful. For wedding days you get really looked after and everything runs so smoothly. Couldn’t have asked for a better place to hold our special day. Best day of my life
We got married at Layer Marney Tower two weeks ago and couldn't imagine a better venue! Having grown up so close to Layer Marney, it seemed like the perfect choice for our wedding venue when we got engaged and it exceeded our expectations! We had our ceremony in the Corsellis room and reception in the Long Gallery, both of which are beautiful rooms. The tower itself and grounds provided a stunning backdrop for our photos, as fortunately the weather was kind to us. We had so many comments from our guests saying how incredible the venue was!! Our guests really enjoyed the Routemaster bus, and arriving in the Maythorn, chauffeur driven by Graham (who was wonderful!), was just fantastic! The whole team have been brilliant to deal with, answering all our queries very promptly and ensuring everything ran smoothly on the day. We had the most magical day at this beautiful venue and would not hesitate to recommend it!
Visited yesterday for a fairly quick visit with my son so that he could take photos of the beautiful scenery and stunning buildings. We had a lovely wander round and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The gardens are beautiful and the view from the tower is stunning. We finished off with a tasty piece of cake which was very enjoyable. Well worth a visit. We will return.
Visited last Wednesday. We arrived just after 12.00pm to find the car park packed. Due to bad parking, there were some spaces not quite big enough to get in. With marked parking, several more cars could have parked.
The cafe area is in the stables, so some empty seats not accessible. We did manage to squeeze in for some soup and a roll as the lunch crowd was thinning out. As the kitchen appears to be in there, one wonders why part of the Long Barn is not used for the cafe. We saw waitresses struggling across the yard with trays of crockery, trying to avoid being tripped up by small children running about.
Enjoyed all the buildings and history, but we were dissapointed to find the access to the roof was closed after our 70 year old knees had struggled to the top! Maybe a sign at the bottom, to advise, when the door is locked?
Sadly we missed the lamb feeding and could not understand why they were all huddled at one end of the barn in a draft, when there were heat lamps at the other end. Silly babies.
All in all, although it was cold, we enjoyed our day, and will definitely be back.
Paul and I had the absolute pleasure of getting married here on Sunday 19th March 2017 and I cannot thank the staff enough for well and truly making our special day one to remember. The grounds are amazing and the backdrop of the Towers is just beautiful. This is a must see venue for any couples planning on getting married and Karen was fantastic with us from the very first meeting right up until the morning after the night before lol. Thank you again Layer Marney Tower, you will forever be in our hearts x
Nicholas and his team did an amazing job today for our work way day with 200 people. The venue is spectacular and Nicholas is a fantastic host, we could not have asked for more and the Layer Marney Tower team certainly couldn’t have done more. Wonderful sums our experience today!
My Fiancé & I were at a loss as to where to go. He looked up "Events near me" & found Layer Marney tower.
So it wasn't a planned trip.
The lady who greeted us at the gift shop & entrance was really friendly, as was the beautiful cat who paraded around purring.
We saw chickens, goats and horses all very well looked after.
The grounds were amazing, lovely to walk around. We looked at all the attractions including The Long hall,the church & the Tower.
There was a Tower tour while we were there. We initially joined it, but found the loud woman, a bit like a retired school teacher, very condescending, and bossy so we explored the tower ourselves.
It was hugely interesting, especially the wonderful dolls house. I photographed every room.
The view from the top of the tower was well worth the climb.
A good day out.
Layer Marney is awesome and the family and staff who run it are lovely. I feel forever indebted to them for some magical memories they have given my children including 'meeting' Henry VIII at Tudor Day, dancing around the Maypole (where else can you do that these days?), Tudor Christmas and old fashioned Halloween (without the scare fest you get everywhere else). Oh and not to forget the lambs in Spring! Only sad thing is that some of these events seem to have been discontinued, which is a real shame. Please keep doing everything that you do because you're awesome!
Gregg and I got married at Layer Marney Tower on the 5th August 2017 midday and absolutely loved it!! We had visited the Tower in the past way before we were engaged and we both loved the place and history. It wasn't till we looked around for wedding venues, we had such a lovely feeling of the place and knew it was the perfect venue to get married. The staff were amazing! So quick with responding with questions. Karen was our wedding coordinator and couldn't have asked for a better one. Even after the wedding we accidentally left my horse shoes in the garden and Karen got in contact with the bride which got married the same day as me but in the afternoon (someone from her party took my horse shoes by mistake) and Karen sorted it all out for me whilst I was away (thank you so much!!) Plus I have to thank the Bride who brought my horse shoes back to Layer Marney, thank you so much!! It rained very heavily after the ceremony when we were outside having photos, the owner came out to give us umbrellas, was so lovely of him! Anyway, if your thinking on a beautiful historical venue with great staff, get married at Layer Marney Tower!! Thank you so much again for the perfect day. Imogen & Gregg Masters
Got married here 2 weeks ago, couldn't ask for a better or more unique wedding venue! The staff are very helpful and friendly, always there if you need them!
The reception room was lovely and the grounds where we had photos, bubbles and canapés are fab, not to mention the long gallery where we all enjoyed a 3 course meal!!
The bar was a delight, along with the driver who was super...would reccommend to anyone xx
Goodness, where to start... Ali and I were recently married at Layer Marney Tower on the 21st October 2017. It was the dream day in an amazing place and made even more so by the wonderful people who worked so tirelessly to make it happen. Always a smile and an honest answer. Nothing was too small or too much trouble. Karen, our wedding coordinator, was fantastic even after the umpteenth question and visit!
We were fortunate to have both our ceremony and reception here, which then includes the use of the Rolls Royce, so we didn't need to worry about wedding transport either. Bouquet Garni, the caterers, where excellent. Beautiful food and service.
Having our wedding later in the year meant it was just cold enough to get away with the fire lit in the Long Gallery, during the wedding breakfast. It adds such a wonderful ambiance to the proceedings. As it turned out, the weather was very kind on our day, so we were still able to have drinks and canapes outside on the lawn. So, definitely don't discount that "non-summer" wedding!
It was Ali's childhood dream to marry at Layer Marney and it delivered in every way possible.
To everyone at Layer Marney Tower: You made our perfect day, perfect.
Love, Ali & Jim xx
Beautiful place lots of history and spectacular views for miles would highly recommend for a day out. my family attended a wedding there and if you want the fairy tale wedding this is the place to have it. Highly recommend it thankyou for a perfect day
An amazing venue. We, Eclipse Live Music, have just worked with Nicholas at Layer Marney Tower performing three sets of music for the wedding of Lydia and Terry. It is a truly stunning venue for a wedding. Nothing was too much trouble and we thoroughly enjoyed working with them. The private rooms created an unique backdrop for each part of the day. The Corsellis Room for the ceremony, the grounds for canapés and photos and the Long Gallery for the wedding breakfast and reception. A great pairing with Caterers Bouquet Garni ensured a wonderful all day experience.
A simply stunning and beautiful wedding venue! I was the main wedding photographer for Alice & Paul's wedding on the 30/07/2017. I can not stress enough how wonderful this place is. As a wedding photographer it is right up mu street in terms of what it offers brides and grooms - Also, Karen and her team are exceptional, and leave no stone unturned in search of excellence!
Not a review of layer marney tower itself as the grounds are lovely however this is a review of their fete they put on today which was ridiculously expensive for what it was and they don’t tell you the price on any of their advertising so you get a shock at the gate.
Extremely disappointed with today.
Planned our day out with our little one and decided to come to this “village fete” and absolutely no where does it say that it’s £9.00 per adult and then £5.00 for a child.
That’s a ridiculous amount of money for a so called village fete with very little there!
There was nothing there to justify that kind of price and it’s hard to just walk away when you have a little one with you!
The stalls were all very basic, a very small bouncy castle and and there was possibly four “stalls” that actually had anything to do which included smash a plate, hook a duck in a paddling pool using a broken golf club with a coat hanger hook stuck to the end, a plastic rocket on a string and roll a tennis ball through a hole. All fine for a little village fete or school fair but not for an event that’s charging so much with nothing else to offer. There was maybe May 10 stalls in total.
I’ll gladly spend money on an event when there is actually something there to do but if you weren’t part of the dog show (which cost more) then there was barely anything there and it was all very budget and very disappointing.
You should have advertised the prices rather than spring them on people at the gate. Way too expensive.