The Pig at Combe will be the fifth in the group and is now taking reservations for a planned opening in the Otter Valley near Honiton, Devon in "early July”.

“We’re really over the moon with progress at The Pig at Combe,” said Hutson, chief executive of owning company Home Grown Hotels. “It sits well within the footprint of our other four locations; demand has been very high for the existing properties and our guests want more Pigs in more locations.

“But we will only create them if we find exceptional sites like this – possibly the finest hotel building in this neck of the woods.”

The Pig at Combe joins sister hotels in the New Forest, Studland, near Bath and Southampton.

It will have 27 rooms at the time of opening - 17 in the main house and 10 in the Georgian stableyard.

In the main house, the inventory includes three new “Rafter” rooms created out of a previously unused attic space, while the 10 new “Horse Yard” bedrooms have been created from converting former stables and coach houses; two thatched Devon longhouses in the grounds will follow, providing additional private cottage-style accommodation.

The Elizabethan building is set in 3,500 acres of countryside in the village of Gittisham, 1.5 miles from Honiton and eight miles from the coast.

Hallmarks of The Pig are here, such as spa treatments in Potting Sheds and walled kitchen gardens, with all other ingredients sourced from within a 25-mile radius of the hotel.

Rooms start from £155 per night.