| DORSET |
| Athelhampton |
On A35, 5.5 miles north-east of Dorchester |
Built in 1485, this country house retains a happy air of what it has
been for 500 years - a private family home, albeit in the grand manner. The battlemented
entrance front and porch are romantically decorative and not at all the businesslike
defences of the fortified manors of earlier times. The Great Hall is among the finest
examples of 15th century domestic architecture in the country. English furnishings,
paintings and other treasures dating from the 14th century remain in their original
settings. |
| Bovington Tank Museum |
Off A352, 7 miles west of Wareham |
A massive 48 ton Centurion tank, cut in half along its length to expose
the secrets of its interior, is one of more than 180 armoured vehicles on display here.
They date from the first true tank, built in 1915, and include Second World War veterans
such as British Churchills, America's ubiquitous Shermans and Germany's awesome Jagd
Tiger, with massive 128mm gun. |
| Cerne Abbas Abbey and Giant |
Off A352, 10 miles south of Sherborne |
The 10th century Benedictine abbey that once dominated the village is
now recalled only by the scant ruins of a gatehouse, added in the 15th century. Much more
ancient is the celebrated Cerne Abbas Giant - the 180ft, club-wielding naked man cut
starkly into the chalk of the hillside just north-east of the village, and is believed to
be 1500 or more years old. |
| Christchurch Priory |
In centre of Christchurch |
Founded in 1094, it has a Norman nave and transepts, an Early Gothic
porch of about 1200, and Decorated Gothic screens from the following century. The tower,
soaring to 120ft, is pure Perpendicular of about 1460 and the chantries represent the
Renaissance style of the 1520s. The church measures 311ft from east to west and is the
longest parish church in England. It has many remarkable carvings and monuments. |
| Clouds Hill |
Off B3390, 9 miles east of Dorchester |
It was on his was home by motorcycle to this cream-coloured little
cottage that T.E. Lawrence, soldier and author, was killed on May 13, 1935. Clouds Hill
has been preserved just as he had left it earlier on that day. The cottage is filled with
his books and wartime photographs, and the furniture Lawrence bought secondhand or made. |
| Corfe Castle |
On A351, 4 miles south-east of Wareham |
Corfe is everything an ancient castle should be. The 12th century keep
and its massive outer fortifications are steeped in history, for kings were not only born
and bred here but imprisoned - and murdered - too. And though a ravaged ruin now, the
castle is the very stuff of fairy tales, looming over the village that has grown up around
its feet, and now reaches right to the medieval moat-bridge. To see just how the castle
looked in its prime, visit the model village just off the square in West Street. There, in
full view of the ruins, stands a pristine 1:20 scale reconstruction of the original
fortress and its village. |
| Dorset County Museum |
High West Street, Dorchester |
Beautiful mosaics from Roman Dorchester are among the exhibits in the
Dorset County Museum. Along with other antiquities, there is an exhibition of the
archaeological findings made in the 1930s at nearby Maiden Castle, the Iron Age settlement
stormed by a Roman legion in AD 43. The main part of the museum displays the large
collection of Thomas Hardy's possessions, bequeathed by the author. |
| Hambledon Hill |
Off A350, 4 miles north-west of Blandford Forum |
Crowned by an Iron Age hill-fort, the summit of Hambledon Hill rises to
604ft amid farmlands. There are superb views of the Stour valley which runs below the
hill, and of Hod Hill just to the south where defenders of the hill-fort there were routed
by a Roman legion in AD 43. South of the summit is a much older 20 acre causewayed camp,
where Stone Age farmers lived and kept their herds 4500 years ago. The hill is privately
owned, but there is a public path to the summit. |
| Kingston Lacy |
On B3082, 1.5 miles west of Wimborne Minster |
The property was left to the National Trust in 1981 by Ralph Bankes,
whose ancestor Sir John originally bought it from Charles I, whom he served as Chief
Justice. The house was built at the time of the Restoration, but assumed its present
palatial aspect after William John Bankes, MP, inherited in 1834. Bankes was in the midst
of transforming the house when he became involved in an unsavoury case and fled Kingston
Lacy, never to return. From exile in Italy, Bankes continued to send detailed drawings and
instructions to his builders at home - along with boatloads of art treasures - right up to
his death in 1855. |
| Maiden Castle |
Off A354, 2.5 miles south-west of Dorchester |
Its tremendous fortifications, begun around 300 BC, make this one of
the most important settlements of British prehistory. The end of Maiden Castle as a
settlement came suddenly with the arrival of the Romans in AD 43. An archaeological dig in
the 1930s revealed the graves of 34 people, their skeletons showing the wounds inflicted
by Roman swords and ballista bolts. Now entirely grassed over, except for the foundations
of a curious Romano-Celtic temple of about AD 380, the breezy heights of Maiden Castle
command fine views all round. |
| Milton Abbey |
Off A354, 9 miles south-west of Blandford Forum |
The 15th century abbey church is virtually all that remains of
Middleton, a once-thriving town that was demolished in the 1770s by Lord Milton, Earl of
Dorchester. He replaced it with an architect-designed small village of uniform thatched
cottages nearby and renamed it Milton Abbas. A former Benedictine monastery founded in AD
934, the Gothic, cathedral-like abbey church contains a marble monument to Lord and Lady
Milton. |
| Parnham |
On A3066, 1 mile south of Beaminster |
The first house at Parnham was built around 1400, but today's
Renaissance-cum-Gothic structure of Hamdon stone and mullioned windows is largely
Elizabethan. The battlements were added in 1810. Inside, the rooms have been restored to
their 16th century style. The Great Hall has its beautiful original oak screen and
minstrels' gallery from 1554. Here and in other fine rooms there are displays of
furniture-maker John Makepeace's work, along with exhibitions of contemporary works of
art. |
| Portland Castle |
On A354, 4 miles south of Weymouth |
Portland Castle is the tough-looking fortress down in the harbour,
beside the Royal Navy helicopter base. The castle was built in the 1520s by Henry VIII,
has 14ft thick walls and once bristled with artillery. Portland's history is told in the
Portland Museum at 217 Wakeham in Easton. |
| Royal Signals Museum |
Off B3082, 1 mile east of Blandford Forum |
From a carrier pigeon that won a VC to the long-range technology of the
Falklands campaign, the museum brings to life the history of extraordinary ingenuity - and
courage - behind army communications. The museum is housed in the School of Signals of the
Royal Corps of Signals, and illustrates army signalling methods used both before and after
the regiment's formation in 1920. |
| Sherborne Abbey |
In Centre of Sherborne |
The golden Ham Hill sandstone of Sherborne's beautiful medieval
buildings has its most sublime use in the stately Abbey Church of St Mary the Virgin,
built between the 12th and 15th centuries. Weathered to a mellow honey colour outside, the
effect within is one of warm welcome. In the cathedral-scale nave, ingenious mobile
mirrors give a detailed view of the fan-vaulting overhead. The oak choir stalls merit
close inspection, too, for the underside of the tip-up seats - feature enchanting carved
tableaux. |
| Tutankhamun Exhibition |
25 High West Street, Dorchester |
The sights, sounds and even the smells that greeted Howard Carter and
his colleagues in 1922 when they entered the 3200-year-old tomb of the boy pharaoh
Tutankhamun have been re-created with meticulous care in a spectacular addition to
Dorchester's outstanding array of museums. Facsimiles of fabulous treasures such as the
golden mask and the statue of the jackal-god Anubis were made by craftsmen employing the
same methods and materials used by the ancient Egyptians. The acoustics and aromas of the
burial chamber are based on notes taken by Howard Carter. |
| Wimborne Minster |
In town centre, off B3082 |
A library of ancient books, an astronomical clock that pre-dates the
astronomer Copernicus (1473-1543), and a Saxon treasure chest more than a thousand years
old are among the many marvels of this twin-towered church. Built on what is believed to
be the site of an 8th century Benedictine nunnery, the minster dates from the 1100s and
retains its magnificent Norman nave and arches. The west tower - added in 1464 to
accommodate an extra peal of bells - has a Quarter Jack, a carved figure which strikes a
pair of bells every quarter hour. |
