ROMANTIC Brinsop Court was once home to a Hollywood screen star; the moated Herefordshire pile was also a favourite of science’s brightest star.

So then it is little wonder that both ancient house and grounds have won hearts and minds on a global scale.

Conde Nast Traveller/Brides magazine has just listed Brinsop Court among the world’s top 100 places to get hitched.

Professor Stephen Hawking had long appreciated the 12th century house. Every September until his death last year the renowned physicist and author spent a month in a specially adapted suite in order to talk turkey with scientists from around the world.

Tucked away in a wooded valley near Wormsley, the 18-bedroom manor and 800-acre estate was also home to an earlier star.

Actress Madeleine Carroll, who married Colonel Philip Astley in 1931, brought real glamour to her husband’s family home.

Hereford Times:

Hollywood star Madeleine Carroll pictured in 1934

The star of Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps (1935), who at the peak of her career was the highest paid actress in the world, filled the moat with flocks of pink flamingos. Her association with the grade 1-listed house is now celebrated with a gallery of studio photographs.

Dating back to 1180, Brinsop Court with its oak floors and staircases and central courtyard has received overwhelming approval.

Owner Pat Churchward was thrilled to hear the news: “Brinsop had no idea it was being identified as a contender and the news was a great surprise,” she says.

A nomination for best country wedding venue has also come from Hitched wedding magazine.

The court ceased to be a private home 14 years ago and in the last five years its popularity as a wedding venue has soared. Last year it hosted 40 weddings while 50 are already booked for 2019.

Hereford Times: Professor Stephen Hawking used to play with Gill Jones's siblings at Mill Hill in the 1950s.

The late Professor Stephen Hawking was a regular guest

There’s a marriage room with an exquisite plaster ceiling, a stunning banqueting hall glimmering with candles and a games room and bar for apres-wedding partying.

The beautifully appointed bridal suite is romantic in the extreme, and the stone-walled Chapel bedroom is lit with imposing ecclesiastical windows.

General manager Mike Lowe explains that weddings are “completely bespoke”, and how the court can also be hired for holiday groups or corporate events.

“Stephen Hawking said it was a highlight of his year to come here and he would bring scientists from all over the world to stay for a month.

A room and bathroom was re-done for him,” he says. “He was due to come the year he passed. It was very sad.

“But his group came in memory of him which was nice.”