IT'S a magical place. As the early evening mist blurs the outlines of the trees and enfolds the grazing sheep, we round a bend in a country lane to be confronted with the gothic splendour of Swinton Park. On slightly raised ground, and backlit by pale floodlights, the approach is breathtaking.

And there is no-one else around. The only sound is the car crunching slowly over private gravel as we drive through the parkland up to the fairytale castellated turret - the Victorian design statement of this Elizabethan castle. Already the slightly surreal atmosphere is getting to us. The two red deer poised watchfully under that tree did look real and I could swear one of them moved. But then it was getting a bit dark by then.

There are real deer in the 200 acre park, of course. Some of them end up on the menu at this acclaimed hotel and restaurant, along with game, rabbit and trout, as we were about to find out.

Swinton Park is a remarkable success story. Situated just outside Masham, the house first came into the Cunliffe-Lister family in 1888 when Samuel Lister, a Bradford textile baron and owner of Manningham Mills, then the largest factory in Europe, bought it for his retirement. It was sold in 1980, but the family bucked the trend when they bought back their ancestral home in 2000. Mark Cunliffe-Lister, whose great grandmother was the last family member to live in the house, and his wife Felicity gave up their careers (he a geophysicist, she a City solicitor) to oversee the renovation work. And in partnership with Mark's mother Susan and his uncle, the Earl of Swinton, they have made this country hotel a landmark, with an AA rating of four red stars, three AA rosettes for the restaurant (putting it in the top ten per cent in the country) and a string of awards as long as any upper class pedigree.

So would all this ancestral glory and impressive background make this place just a little too, well, posh for an evening out? Well, it's grand without being grandiose and posh without being pretentious. It's a place perfectly at ease with itself and, consequently, you feel at ease as well.

And a lot of that has to be down to the staff. From the young man who greets you at the door to the choreographed performance of the dining room team, this is one professional organisation.

After drinks and canaps in the splendid drawing room, which was pretty quiet when we were there but then it is pretty big, we went in to dinner in Samuel's, the restaurant named after the mill owner who bought the place and whose portrait still looks, rather sternly, across the room.

The family has recently restored the park's four acre walled garden to a working vegetable garden supplying the restaurant and the hotel's cookery school, and its influence is much in evidence on the menu. Chef Andy Burton, who says he's "no gardener" admits having faced a steep learning curve in adapting his menus to what's available in the garden but the freshness of the produce is hard to beat.

For my first course I choose a velout of pumpkin (from the garden) with tortellini of wild mushrooms. This certainly lived up to its translation: the velvety texture of the sauce carrying the delicate flavour of the pumpkin perfectly. Peter's choice was breast of wood pigeon, with home-made black pudding (a revelation after the commercial variety), veal sweetbreads and creamed savoy cabbage. This was a pretty robust starter - and much appreciated.

Other first courses were a pressing of pig's cheek, foie gras and green peppercorns with celeriac remoulade; pan fried sea scallops with truffled cauliflower puree and braised oxtails, and pan-roasted smoked haddock with Parma ham, risotto of leek and horseradish foam.

For my main course I had saltimbocca of rabbit with parsnip puree, baby onion tatin and thyme jus. The literal translation of saltimbocca, I have discovered, is "leap in the mouth" - and I wouldn't argue with that description, although it was too delicious to rush. Peter's fillet of wild sea bass with pan fried scallops, wilted spinach and langoustine velout was equally well received.

Other mains included roasted whole lemon sole with warm potted shrimp butter; breast of duck with duck liver, confit pork belly, potato Anna, shallot puree and star anise jus, and haunch of estate venison, with braised fagot, celeriac puree, roasted artichoke and bayleaf jus.

My pudding, glazed lemon tart with raspberry sorbet, came with a spun sugar creation of such lofty dimensions that it should have had a high load warning. The sharpness of the lemon and of the sorbet was just right after the richness of my main course. And Peter's hot chocolate fondant with crme fraiche ice cream was pronounced "delightful".

Other choices were "a theme on rhubard crumble and custard"; caramelised pear tatin with cinnamon ice cream and sultana syrup, or cheese with homemade chutney and fruit and nut bread.

And after all this - coffee and hand-made chocolates in the drawing room.

So now you're wondering just what sort of gilt-edged credit card you need to pay for this. Well, the three-course dinner, with coffee, is £35 per person, which, for a meal of this quality, beautifully presented in stunning surroundings, has just got to be one of the best value dinners I have ever eaten.

Walking slowly back to the car across the silent courtyard, a silence only broken by the calls of the night birds, it's almost a pinch-me moment. Then a solitary rabbit crosses our path. "There's one that got away," says Peter, bringing me back to reality.

* To celebrate the restoration of the walled garden at Swinton Park, the hotel is hosting a series of Garden Lunches in Samuel's restaurant, with a talk about the history of the parkland and walled garden and a guided tour of the grounds. During April and May the lunches will focus on the parkland and coincide with the daffodils in April and the azaleas and rhododendrons in early May. In May, June and July the focus of each lunch will be on the walled garden. For further details telephone 01765 680900.