Historic BuildingsMinterne Magna

Birthplace of novelist and poet Thomas HardyThomas Hardy was born in 1840 in this small cob and thatch cottage and from here he would walk to school every day in Dorchester, three miles away. It was built by his great‐grandfather and is little altered since the family…
Distance: 8.6 miles away

Magnificent Elizabethan stone‐built house, with fine collections, garden and park. Built in the late 16th century for Sir Edward Phelips, Montacute glitters with many a hrefhttp:www.double‐glazers.co.ukwindowsa and is adorned with elegant chimneys, carved parapets and other Renaissance features, including contemporary plasterwork, chimneypieces and heraldic glass. The splendid staterooms…
Distance: 12.4 miles away

Created last century around a 17th‐century manor house, the garden features small pools, varied borders and secluded lawns, all neatly enclosed within walls and clipped hedges. There is also an attractive kitchen garden.The beautiful formal gardens stand in two acres, created by Mrs Reiss, who gave the property…
Distance: 10.3 miles away

Built by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594, Sherborne Castle has been home of the Digby family since 1617. Set in 40 acres of glorious 'Capability' Brown landscaped gardens and grounds around his 50 acre lake, the Castle contains a splendid collection of art, furniture and porcelain.The first building…
Distance: 7.7 miles away

Voted Our Favouite Garden by the readers of The Daily Telegraph in 2006. Runner‐up in the peoples' vote for the best major display garden at The Chelsea Flower Show, May 2006.Established in 1765 by the first Countess of Ilchester as a kitchen garden for her nearby castle. Developed…
Distance: 13.2 miles away

Athelhampton House and its estate and gardens have been in private ownership for over five hundred years. We thank you for your interest which will help to ensure that Athelhampton will continue to flourish. The House has been owned by the Cooke family for three generations…
Distance: 9.7 miles away

T. E. Lawrence 'Lawrence of Arabia' bought this tiny isolated brick and tile cottage in 1925. The austere rooms are much as he left them and reflect his complex personality and close links with the Middle East. An exhibition details Lawrence's extraordinary life. …
Distance: 13.5 miles away

Mapperton Gardens is a romantic valley garden deep into a lost Dorset combe among tumbling hills and unspoilt countryside. The gardens descend from the great lawn, through the formal topiary down to the valley garden. The manor house with its church,stable block, coach house, dovecote and…
Distance: 9.5 miles away

The Minterne Valley, landscaped in the manner of Capability Brown in the 18th Century, has been the home of the Churchill and Digby families for 350 years. The gardens are laid out in a horseshoe below Minterne House, with a chain of small lakes, waterfalls and streams. They…
Distance: 0.6 miles away

Muchelney, the atmospheric and once‐remote 'great island' amid the Somerset Levels, has many rewards for visitors. Beside the clearly laid out foundations of the wealthy medieval Benedictine abbey and its Anglo‐Saxon predecessor stands a complete early Tudor house in miniature. Originally the abbots' lodgings, this charming building includes…
Distance: 12.4 miles away