This is a place for garden-lovers. Wealthy German stockbroker Ludwig Messel purchased the 600-acre Nymans estate in 1890 and began the creation of what is now one of England’s most inspirational gardens, with fabulous views across the Sussex countryside and the Weald. The house was badly damaged in a disastrous fire in 1947 and never
The village of Avebury is surrounded by an enormous prehistoric stone circle and at the centre of extraordinary set of Neolithic and Bronze Age sites that apparently represents a vast sacred landscape. These include West Kennet Avenue, West Kennet Long Barrow, The Sanctuary, Windmill Hill, and Silbury Hill. These sites can be reached by foot
Brimham Rocks is an area of weird and wonderful rock formations formed from deposits laid down in a river delta some 320 million years ago and then subsequently eroded by ice and water. It is a site of special scientific interest (SSI) and a magnet for geologists, naturalists, climbers and walkers, as well as families
A tiny cottage, close to the Dorset HQ of the Royal Tank Regiment at Bovington Camp, was once owned by one of Britain’s most fascinating and enigmatic figures, T E Lawrence (1888-1935) – also known as Lawrence of Arabia. The cottage is called Clouds Hill and it was built in 1808 as a forester’s or
The multivallate Iron Age hillfort of Garn Fawr on the Pencaer/Strumble Head peninsula dominates the surrounding landscape, which is peppered with prehistoric remains. At 699 feet (213m), Garn Fawr is the highest point on the peninsula and there are spectacular views from the top – arguably the fort’s best feature. The craggy terrain was formed
West Kennet is a large, chambered, Neolithic tomb dating from around 3,650BC. It is approximately 100 metres long by 20 wide and was in use over, roughly, a 1,000 year period. Five burial chambers once contained the remains of around 50 people. The tomb can be entered and is an eerie place, the atmosphere not
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Calke is a mansion and estate on the site of a 12th century Augustinian abbey. The present Palladian style mansion is a consequence of reconstruction work dating from 1701, built around an Elizabethan house. The estate ultimately came into the hands of the Harpur-Crewe family and was acquired by the National Trust in a state
Montacute House is one of the foremost Elizabethan mansions in England, set in 300 acres in Somerset and built of warm local limestone in the classic symmetrical Elizabethan ‘E’ for Sir Edward Phelips lawyer, in the late 1590s. Inside, Montacute is a mixture of décor, from Tudor to Regency with a bit of early 20th
Mendips at 251 Menlove Avenue is John Lennon’s former Liverpool home, where he spent his childhood with his Aunt Mimi and Uncle George, voraciously read the ‘Just William’ books, listened to Elvis and played his guitar in the porch. The house has been carefully restored back to how it probably was in his teenage years,
20 Forthlin Road is Paul McCartney’s former Liverpool home, where he spent his teenage years with his father, Jim, and his brother, Mike. This is where Paul and John went when they ‘slagged off’ from school to play the guitar and compose, later joined by George Harrison. Several of the Beatles’ hits were written at
Mwnt is a stretch of coastline, a beach in a secluded sandy bay, a hill, a church. A few miles north of Cardigan on the Wales Coast Path, Mwnt is a sheltered cove, popular with families and one of the best places in Ceredigion to spot dolphins, porpoises and seals. There are easy steps to
Lacock Abbey was established between 1229 and 1232 by Lady Ela, Countess of Salisbury. After the Reformation, it became a family home in the hands of the Sharingtons, followed by the Talbots. The most famous Talbot, William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-77) was an accomplished scientist and inventor of the negative/positive photographic process. Thus, Lacock is
