Hampshire Travel Guide - Historic Houses

A historic Georgian mansion beside the River Itchen. Once the property of Winchester Cathedral, Avington was granted by Henry VIII to Edmund Clerke, who built what is now the orangery. Avington was later owned by George Brydges, Groom of the Bedchamber under Charles II. Brydges enlarged the house to create quarters for Charles and his mistress, Nell Gwynn. Later owners, including the Dukes of Buckingham, added greatly to the interior and sumptuous gardens.
Itchen Abbas, Winchester, Hampshire, England, S021 1DB

Attraction Type: Historic House
Location: 4 m NE Winchester off B3047
Website: Avington Park
Email: enquiries@avingtonpark.co.uk
Phone: 01962 779 260
Fax: 1962 779 202
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OS Grid SC925753
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Basing House was one one of the largest private houses in England, the home of William Paulet, Marquess of Winchester in the Tudor period. The house was besieged and destroyed by Oliver Cromwell in the Civil War. Visitors can view excavated remains of the Old House and tour the extensive Norman earthworks which surround the site.
Garden: The Tudor garden of this ruined palace has recently been recreated.
Redbridge Lane, Basing Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, RG24 7HB

Attraction Type: Historic House
Location: 2 m E Basingstoke town centre
Website: Basing House
Email: enquiries.museums@hants.gov.uk
Phone: 0845 603 5635
Fax: 01256 326 283
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Beaulieu has a bit of something for everyone; an informal, homely mansion built upon the ruins of a medieval abbey, and the world famous National Motor Museum. Beaulieu Palace has intriguingly transformed the 14th century Great Gatehouse of Beaulieu Abbey into a comfortable family home beside the River Beaulieu. The major architect of the Victorian Gothic house you see today was Sir Arthur Blomfield, who transformed the earlier medieval building for Lord Henry Scott.
Museum: Beaullieu Abbey was founded by the Cistercian order of monks in 1204, on land granted by King John.Most of the Abbey was destroyed in the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but the Domus, once the lay brother's refectory, has been largely preserved, and now houses exhibits that tell the story of the abbey and the daily life of the monks who lived there.
Beaulieu, Hampshire, England, SO42 7ZN

Attraction Type: Historic House
Location: 3 m SW Hythe on B3054
Website: Beaulieu
Email: info@beaulieu.co.uk
Phone: 01590 612 345
Fax: 01590 612 624
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A Tudor manor house on the edge of the New Forest, Breamore was built in 1583 for the Dodington family. It was later the home of Edward Hulse, doctor to Queen Anne, George I, and George II. The house boasts a collection of 17th and 18th century portraits, period furniture, porcelain, and fine art. In the grounds is the Mizmaze, a turf maze of medieval origin.
Museum: The Breamore Countryside Museum provides a fascinating look at village life in times past. See restored worker's cottages, shops, and an early garage. There is a large collection of early steam-powered farm vehicles. Even earlier is the four-train turret clock of Bavarian design. This clock dates to the late 16th century and is twice the size of the oldest clock in Britain at Salisbury Cathedral.
Breamore, Fordingbridge, Hampshire, England, SP6 2DF

Attraction Type: Historic House
Location: off A338
Website: Breamore House
Email: breamore@btinternet.com
Phone: 01725 512 468
Fax: 01725 512 233
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Begun in 1767 by Capability Brown, finished by Henry Holland. Honeymoon home of the present Queen, former home of Lord Mountbatten and Viscount Palmerston. Extensive portrait collection. more...
Romsey, Hampshire, England, SO51 9ZD

Attraction Type: Historic House
Location: at Romsey, 8 m N Southampton, off A31. Closed until June 2006.
Website: Broadlands
Email: admin@broadlands.net
Phone: 01794 505 010
Fax: 01794 529 755
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OS Grid SU355 204
Photo Credit: David Ross and Britain Express
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An Elizabethan manor house which has been the home of the Knight family for over 4 centuries. Chawton was the home of Jane Austen's brother, Edward, who was adopted by his childless Knight cousins, and took the surname Austen Knight.
Chawton, Alton, Hampshire, England, GU34 1SJ

Attraction Type: Historic House
Location: Although Chawton is a member of the Historic Houses Association, members of the HHA will have to pay full admission fee at this property.
Website: Chawton House
Email: info@chawton.net
Phone: 01420 541010
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Photo Credit: Peter Trimming, licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence
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18th century naturalist Rev Gilbert White can claim to be one of the pioneers of ecological study. He lived at The Wakes in the lovely Hampshire village of Selborne and it was here that he wrote the fabulously popular 'Natural History of Selborne'. The Wakes has been restored as a museum dedicated to White's life and works. The original manuscript of his 'Natural History' can be viewed. In addition, there are displays relating to the expeditions of Victorian explorer Frank Oates and polar explorer Captain Lawrence Oates.
The Wakes, High Street Selborne, Alton, Hampshire, England, GU34 3JH

Attraction Type: Museum
Location: on B3006, 4 m NE of A3
Website: Gilbert White's House and Oates Museum
Phone: 01420 511 275
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Photo Credit: Nigel Chadwick, licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence
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A 17th century mansion built by Inigo Jones for Sir Robert Henley, Northington Grange was one of the earliest houses in England built in classical Geek style. The original design was later altered to resemble a Greek temple, making it quite unusable for habitation! The Prince Regent (later George IV) lived here briefly. Visitors can wander the extensive parkland and view the exterior of the building, but cannot curently view the inside.
New Alresford, Hampshire, England

Attraction Type: Historic House
Location: 4 m N New Alresford off B3046 along a farm track
Website: Northington Grange
Phone: 02392 581 059
English Heritage
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OS Grid SU562 362
Photo Credit: Chris Gunns, licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Licence
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A delightful 17th century mansion that recreates the experience of an Edwardian country house. Stansted was built for Richard Lumley in 1688, and rebuilt as exactly as possible following a fire in 1900. Visitors see a variety of formal rooms, but also get a chance to see 'below stairs', delving into servants quarters.
Rowlands Castle, Hampshire, England, PO9 6DX

Attraction Type: Historic House
Location: off A3 or A27
Website: Stansted Park
Email: enquiry@stanstedpark.co.uk
Phone: 023 9241 2265
Fax: 23 9241 3773
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Built in the early 16th-century for Lord Sandys, Henry VIII's Lord Chamberlain, the house acquired a classical portico in the mid-17th-century (the first of its kind in England). It contains a fascinating Tudor chapel with Renaissance glass, a Palladian stircase and a wealth old panelling and fine furniture. The attractive grounds feature herbaceous borders and a wild garden with lawns, lakes and woodland walks.
Garden: 50,000 new snowdrops! Gardening at the Vyne is on a grand scale that humbles one's own visit to the garden centre... Large and varied country park to explore, from formal gardens to meadows, woods and wetlands.
Sherborne St John, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, RG24 9HL

Attraction Type: Historic House
Location: 4 m N Basingstoke, off A340
Website: The Vyne
Email: thevyne@nationaltrust.org.uk
Phone: 01256 883 858
Fax: 01256 881 720
National Trust
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