Historic Houses in Dorset

This is what an English manor house should be! Sir William Martyn built the manor house at Athelhampton about the year 1485. The original house consisted of a great hall, solar, and buttery. This basic structure was extended by Robert Martyn in the early 16th century to include a west wing and gatehouse. The early Martyns are buried in the Athelhampton Chapel in the parish church of Puddletown.
Athelhampton, Dorchester, Dorset, England, DT2 7LG

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Chettle House is a lovely red-brick manor house in Queen Anne style, designed by architect Thomas Archer for George Chafin in 1710. Archer created an elegant masterpiece of English Baroque to replace an earlier Elizabethan house. The highlight of Archer's design is the sweeping double staircase in the Oak Entrance Hall, where the separate arms describe an elegant arc and meet at the first-floor balcony.
Blandford Forum, Dorset, England, DT11 8DB

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Edmondsham House is an elegant Tudor manor with Georgian additions standing in over 6 acres of lovely gardens featuring rare trees and colourful spring bulbs. The house was built in 1598 for Thomas Hussey, using locally-made bricks to create a striking Dutch-style residence.
Edmondsham, Wimborne, Dorset, England, BH21 5RE

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'Romantic and Picturesque' both descriptively and architecturally, the L-shaped Highcliffe Castle was built in 1835 by Lord Stuart de Rothesay to incorporate carved medieval stonework and stained glass from France and beyond. A superb example of Gothic Revival style.
Rothesay Drive, Highcliffe, Dorset, England, BH23 4LE

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Heritage Highlight: Historic stained glass collection

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The sedate rectangle of Kingston Lacy sits amid the vast estates acquired by the Bankes family, who lived here for over 300 years. At its core the house is Restoration style, begun by Sir Ralph Bankes in the 1660s. That house replaced an even earlier medieval manor that had been heavily damaged in the Civil War. The interiors are sumptuously decorated and boast a magnificet collection of European art and fine furnishings.
Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England, BH21 4EA

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Lulworth Castle was begun in 1608 by Thomas Howard. Howard, a favourite of James I, built the castle as a hunting lodge, hoping to host royal hunting parties. Howard chose to build his lodge in the style of a medieval fortress, with a great hall, a grand dining room, and a set of state apartments. The castle was restored after the Civil War, and the interior was modernised in the 18th century. It was almost destroyed by fire in 1929 and left to decay. However, the Lulworth Estate, in conjunction with English Heritage, embarked on a huge restoration project and managed to save the castle for future generations.
East Lulworth, Wareham, Dorset, England, BH20 5QS

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Erected by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1594 on the site of a medieval hunting lodge in the Deer Park of Sherborne Old Castle, Sherborne Castle was acquired by Sir John Digby in 1617 and his family has lived here ever since. The interior is graced with splendid furniture, porcelain and art collections.
New Road, Sherborne, Dorset, England, DT9 5NR

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An attractive Georgian manor in lovely Blackmore Vale countryside, Stock Gaylard was built in 1714 for the Lewys family. The house is a symmetrical building of three storeys, built of rendered rubble under a slate roof. The house was extended around 1790, with later additions of two courtyards to the rear of the building.
Stock Gaylard Estate Office, Stock Gaylard, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, England, DT10 2BG

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Wolfeton House is a lovely 16th-century manor house in a secluded setting between Dorchester and Yeovil. The south front of the house is the oldest part, completed in 1528. This is flanked by unmatched towers, while a later Elizabethan addition stretches the building out into a solid manor house with fine plasterwork and panelling. There is also a gatehouse, completed in 1534.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, DT2 9QN

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Heritage Highlight: Fabulous Jacobean carving

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