If this is a “country house hotel” then my suburban semi is Chatsworth. The term surely suggests pampered plushness and luxury; Lancrigg hardly fits the bill, though with a bit of investment, it could.

This handsome gabled house dates back to the 17th century and stands on a hillside half a mile from Grasmere, with its Wordsworthian associations and its dinky gift shops. The poet knew and loved the house and composed much of The Prelude in the woods in its 30 acres of grounds (a plaque marks his favourite mossy haunt).

The hotel feels more remote than it actually is, with awesome views over the fells and a deep and silent darkness at night that’s instantly restful.

But Lancrigg offers little hint of its fascinating history. Its atmosphere is somewhere between a post-hippy commune and a Christian retreat centre. Our bedroom — the Wordsworth Room — suggested a 1972 B&B, with an electric wall heater and furniture that mixed teak and past-its-best antique.

The wallpaper was a pink swirl of hydrangeas, thoughtfully themed with the blue swirl of hydrangeas in the shabbily carpeted bathroom, which needed only a crocheted toilet-roll holder to be a perfect post-modern Seventies heritage experience.

Decor aside, Lancrigg is a friendly place; a coal fire roars in the pleasant lounge and — this is the important thing — the food is superb. Restaurant-going veggies weary of paying through the nose for a handful of mushrooms and a few slivers of parmesan should try the four-course dinner. The inventive starters offered grilled goat’s cheese with figs, or walnut and red pepper roulade; the mains were chestnut and wild mushroom roast and Indonesian vegetable and coconut casserole. All were light-textured and interestingly spiced, though the generous portions come plated-up, which may not suit some. The service was good-humoured, efficient and laid-back.

Breakfast was equally good, a feast of the additive-free and the non-genetically-modified, with organic bread and free-range eggs.

A framed certificate records that Lancrigg was 1995 Regional Winner of the Sanatogen Vegetarian Hotel of the Year Award.

Bottom line: Dinner, bed and breakfast ranges from £60 to £100pp. Stephen McClarence paid £176 for a double room for two.

Sampling the fare: Four-course dinner included in room rates; also available to non-residents at £27.50.

What we think: Great food and setting, but, hey, what a time warp!

Best thing: The food.

Worst thing: Swirly hydrangeas.

Access all areas: No — although two ground-floor bedrooms have wheelchair access, their bathrooms do not.

Need to know: Lancrigg Vegetarian Country House Hotel (01539 435317, www.lancrigg.co.uk), Easedale, Grasmere, Cumbria.

Room: 5 out of 10.

Food: 9 out of 10.

Service: 8 out of 10.

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