Wedding day incident

We had our wedding day at the Little Hermitage in Higham. Unfortunately my young nephew fell into a cess pit/septic tank in the grounds of the venue. He could have very nearly drowned, were it not for the quick thinking actions of another child who pulled him out. Had we known there was such a accessible cess pit located in the grounds we would never have booked our wedding here. Unfortunately it was the actions of the staff and the business after this event which made this even more distressing. My little nephew was covered in excrement and was initially denied use of a shower. Then a member of staff commented to my father (who is a pensioner) "you should keep your children under control" or words to this effect. This only inflamed the situation following such a serious incident. Once my Nephew was allowed up to shower, his father wanted to check on him and was initially denied access as it 'was a private area'. My sister, her husband, my niece and my Nephew all had to leave the venue, so that my nephew could be seen at A+E. The following morning during our breakfast at the venue (which consisted of a drink each and 2 slices of toast), a further comment of " well a child could just of easily run out on to the road" was made. Clearly the risk of an unknown danger of a cess pit it not comparable to that of a known, manageable risk of a road. That same morning the Wedding Co-ordinator rang me and requested my sister's contact details so that the Wedding Co-ordinator could contact my sister to apologise for the incident. When we returned from our honeymoon my sister informed me that the Little Hermitage Wedding Co-ordinator had NOT made any contact with her as was promised. We wrote the the Little Hermitage (via recorded post and email) in order to try to resolve the situation amicably. There has been every opportunity for them to respond. The only response was via email on 17th September 2012 to say they had received our letter. We have heard nothing more. Not even an apology. Therefore we have now decided to share our experience with others so that they can take this in to account when making their own judgment on a suitable wedding venue. We would not want any other couple to have the same experience.

Pete Hyland - 28/11/2012 | report this review