Houses, Gardens & Castles

ABBEY HOUSE GARDENS
Malmesbury Abbey, Wilts SN16 9AS. Zone C. Open daily 11am-5pm from 21 Mar-31 Oct, admission £6.50 adult/£5.75 concessions/£2.50 ages 5-15/£16 family. Ffi: 01666 822212, www.abbeyhousegardens.co.uk • This is a glorious place with several acres of plants, ponds and water. Especially famous for its tulips in April, but also for its borders, wooded and laburnum walks and a vegetable garden, all in the shadow of the spectacular Malmesbury Abbey. It's also famous on account of being owned by "the naked gardeners"; Ian & Barbara Pollard are keen naturists and organise days on which naturists are welcome to come along and disrobe. See website for this year’s dates - though, of course, clothed visitors are also welcome on those dates as normal. This used to be part of the famous Malmesbury Abbey, so there are hints of over 1,000 years of continuous history, including the medieval-style herb garden. Abbey and gardens combine for a very nice grown-up day out.

ACTON COURT
Latteridge Rd, Iron Acton, nr Bristol BS37 9TL. Zone A. Open Tue-Sun from 17 June-24 Aug only, visits must be pre-booked, admission charge TBC, prices for special events may be higher. Ffi: 01454 228224, www.actoncourt.com • Big, sprawling old house with lots of bits that look as though they’re going to fall down, partly due to the fact that some of it was built in a hurry and using a technique that avoided mortar. See, much of the house you see nowadays was built in the hope that a king might spend a few days there. In the early 16th century it was owned by ambitious C-list aristo Nicholas Poyntz, who figured to get on in the world by impressing Henry VIII. All he had to do was get the old bastard to drop in and visit for a few days on one of his progresses around the country. He rebuilt his early medieval manor, Henry and the court did indeed drop in and Poyntz did indeed profit. The house is now privately owned and a lot of restoration and conservation work has gone into it, and you can indeed look upon the toilet that was once graced by Henry’s royal and anointed arse. It’s only open for a few weeks in summer, and admission is by guided tour (the guides are very good), but there are also lots of living history and music events. A fascinating and charming oddity of a place.

AMERICAN MUSEUM & GARDENS
Claverton Manor, Bath BA2 7BD. Zone A. Open 12noon-5pm Tue-Sun, BHMs and Mons in August, from 15 Mar to 2 Nov, admission £7.50 adult/£6.50 senior & student/£4 ages 5-16/£20 family. Ffi: 01225 460503, www.americanmuseum.org • Beautiful setting, with valley views and lots of secret dens to discover among the trees. House and grounds aim to recreate how Americans lived, from the first New England settlers to the Civil War, and showcase the best of traditional American crafts. Shaker furniture, dolls houses, tipi, Conestoga wagon, etc. Big exhibition of quilts and quilting, and a charming gallery of folk art. It all adds up to an absolutely fascinating view of American life that's completely at variance with all the Hollywood-driven preconceptions we have about the USA. They've also got this very nifty hall beyond the main building which this year will be featuring what looks like an absolute must-see, ‘Titanic - The Ship that Shook America’, the largest-ever exhibition of verified ‘Titanic’ memorabilia ever displayed in Britain, including menu cards, personal effects of passengers, plus furnishings from other White Star Line ships. The museum also hosts regular living history events with enthusiasts re-creating the American War of Independence, Civil War, etc in the extensive grounds. Also has pleasant tea rooms, serving home-style cookies and cakes.

AVEBURY MANOR
Avebury, nr Marlborough, Wilts SN8 1RF. Zone D. House open Sun, Mon & Tue 2-4.40pm from 1 Apr-28 Oct, gardens open Fri-Tue (closed Wed & Thur) 11am-5pm from 31 Mar-30 Oct, house & garden admission £4 adult/£2 child, garden only £3 adult/£1.50 child. Ffi: 01672 539250, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • Sixteenth-century manor house, built on older monastic foundations, with formal Edwardian gardens. Admission to house is by guided tour only. Probably not worth the trouble of a visit in itself unless you're a big fan of Edwardian garden design and topiary, although for a while it was home to Alexander Keiller, the playboy antiquarian who restored Avebury’s ancient stones and who probably held occult ceremonies and ritual orgies here. As it’s in the middle of the Avebury complex (see Rocks & Ruins section), you might want to drop in if you're visiting anyway.

BARRINGTON COURT
Barrington, Somerset, TA19 0NQ. Zone D. Open daily (except Wed) 11am-5pm from 1 Apr-30 Sept, shorter hours in winter, admission £8.10 adult/£3.50 child/£19.70 family. Ffi: 01460 241938, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • One for garden enthusiasts rather than historians - a series of gardens influenced by Gertrude Jekyll and laid out as 'rooms', with particularly attractive walled gardens. The whole place has a strange sort of decayed atmosphere to it. Though it's perfectly well-maintained, it doesn't have the prissy, well-clipped formality you find at a lot of other National Trust places. Hosting a special exhibition on cider this year, what with this being Zummerzet and all. The house is leased as a showroom for a firm specialising in reproduction antique furniture, meaning it’s of limited historical interest. It’s set in that rather lush south Somerset countryside, all narrow lanes and winding roads, so make sure a responsible adult is navigating.

BECKFORD'S TOWER & MUSEUM
Lansdown, Bath BA1 9BH. Zone A. Open 10.30am-5pm Sat, Sun & BHMs only from 22 Mar to end of Oct, admission £3 adult/£2 student, senior/£1.50 child/£8 family. Ffi: 01225 422212, www.bath-preservation-trust.org.uk • One of the most delightful and bizarre buildings in the region, a 120ft-high neo-classical tower which was built in the early 19th century by bisexual eccentric William Beckford. Beckford inherited the sort of cash that made him one of the richest men in the world, but he was also an author of lavish gothic fantasy novels - his works have been rediscovered and revived in recent years. In one of those wonderful politically incorrect twists that history doles out, it turns out that Beckford’s not too great a gay icon since his vast fortune came from sugar and therefore slavery… The tower, restored in recent years, features a two-room exhibition on his unbelievably self-indulgent life and architectural works. The main point of visiting, though, is the 156-step clamber to the room at the top, also lovingly restored and offering amazing views over the area (some older visitors might not be up to it). There are also very enthusiastic and well-informed guides in attendance. The cemetery in the grounds features Beckford's tomb, along with a load of other elaborate Victorian monuments, each with a story to tell. A magical place, and essential visiting.

BERKELEY CASTLE
Nr Dursley, Glos GL13 9BQ. Zone B. Open Good Friday to Easter Monday, then Sats, Suns & BHMs, open daily in July & Aug, Suns only Sept & Oct, admission to all attractions £7.50 adult/£6 senior/£4.50 child/£21 family (2 adults + 2 children)/under-5s free. Ffi: 01453 810332, www.berkeley-castle.com • This is the proper medieval real deal, complete with bastions, cannon, weapons hanging on the walls and dungeons and stuff. But it's also been home to the Berkeley family for hundreds of years so it includes some fabulous living spaces - though one suspects they'd be very, very draughty in winter. Down the years it's been the scene of some pretty serious history; it got fought over in the Civil War and (as every schoolboy used to know) King Edward II was murdered here in circumstances most foul. Plenty to see indoors (knowledgeable, friendly attendants will tell you all) and with some nice terraced gardens outdoors, plus a butterfly house which is magical. You might also want to visit the Jenner Museum (the house where vaccination pioneer Edward Jenner lived), which is right next to the castle. Over the summer the castle has a busy diary of events, including a steam fair, agricultural show and classic car show. Sadly, the wonderful Joust! medieval extravaganza, which delighted visitors in recent years, was driven out of business by 2007’s wet summer.

BOWOOD
Nr Calne, Wilts SN11 0LZ. Zone C. Open daily 11am-5.30pm from 19 Mar-4 Nov, admission £8 adult/£7 senior/£4.50 age 2-4/£6.50 age 5-15/£25 family (2 adults + 2 children). Ffi: 01249 812102, www.bowood-house.co.uk • Big old stately home which has bolted on a lot of family attractions and which tends to be one of those places that parents rave to one another about when they 'discover' it. The house is (still) the ancestral home of the Marquesses of Lansdowne, and was where Joseph Priestley did a lot of the experiments that led to his discovery of the existence of oxygen. Features a lot of 18th-century stuff, as well as historical exhibits from India (one of the ancestors was a viceroy). Huge gardens and parkland, too. But the best bit is that the place has one of the best-designed and cleverest adventure playgrounds in Europe, including several things that achieve the looks-horribly-scary-but-isn't-really thrill. Take them before they reach teenagehood, when the adventure playground becomes out of bounds. There's also a Soft Play area for younger children. The grounds (with lake, temples and cascades) are fabulous - wonderful for picnics. Lastly but not leastly, Bowood has an awful, awful lot of rhododendrons which are in bloom in April/May/early June sort of time. If you don't want to do the house and gardens, you can do the 'Rhododendron Walks' on their own for a small separate admission charge. Phone or see website to check how they're doing, as their behaviour is probably even harder to forecast in these here days of global warming.

BRISTOL UNIVERSITY BOTANIC GARDEN
The Holmes, Stoke Park Rd, Stoke Bishop, Bristol BS9 1JB. Zone A. Open Easter Bank Holiday weekend Fri-Mon and then every Wed, Thur, Fri & Sun to autumn, 10am-4.30pm, admission £3.50 adult/£1 school-age child. Ffi: 0117 331 4912, www.bris.ac.uk/Depts/BotanicGardens • This is a very special place, well worth the trip even if plants and flowers and stuff like that normally leave you cold, because this is about the science as much as pretty flowers. This new garden has been laid out and planted in the last couple of years to take the place of Bristol University’s former gardens in Leigh Woods. It’s actually a teaching aid for botany and biology undergraduates as well as a research facility for more advanced study. But in the process it's also a sort of botanical theme park designed to educate, enlighten and amuse and includes several specimens you won’t see anywhere else in the UK, let alone round here. Big attractions include tropical greenhouses (star of which is the giant Amazon waterlily, big enough for a child to sit on), the Evolutionary Dell showing how plants have evolved and the biggest and best garden of Chinese medicinal herbs in Britain, if not Europe. There are displays which take state-of-the-art DNA technology to show the very surprising ways in which different plants are related and a major display showing how different plants are pollinated. Fabulous place, and one which you'll want to re-visit again and again, in which case you can become a Friend of the Botanic Garden for £20 (or £27 for two people at the same address), allowing you unlimited visits through the year.

BROKERSWOOD COUNTRY PARK & WOODLAND RAILWAY
Brokerswood, nr Westbury, Wilts BA13 4EH. Zone B. Open daily 10am-5pm (4pm in winter), admission £3.25 adult/£2.50 senior, child age 3-16. Ffi: 01373 822238, www.brokerswood.co.uk • Not a huge amount in the way of heritage/history, but a good value family day out. Some 80 acres of parkland, with lake, picnic areas, adventure playgrounds, woodland play trail and indoor play areas (also has a big caravan park). They've won awards for conservation, and for the more serious-minded there's a heritage centre with info on the area. There's also a miniature railway which runs in the afternoons at weekends from Easter to October, and daily during school holidays, £1 per ride. Good prospect for getting the little dears to let some steam off.

CLEVEDON COURT
Tickenham Rd, Clevedon, N. Somerset BS21 6QU. Zone B. Open 2-5pm Wed, Thur, Sun & BHMs only from 1 Apr-30 Sept, admission £5.60 adult/£2.70 child. Ffi: 01275 872257, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • Originally a medieval manor house, this place has had bits added on to it ever since by owners the Elton family, the local big shots. The Eltons have an interesting and colourful history: they were eccentrics, academics, engineers, inventors and literary groupies (WM Thackeray lived here for a while, as did Alfred, Lord Tennyson), plus the occasional colourful wastrel to squander the family fortune. The house reflects all this with its pictures, glass collection and attractive display of pottery from the factory of a later Elton who also found time to run the Clevedon fire brigade. All this - plus some attractive walled gardens and what are most definitely the most chatty and informative guides and attendants in the entire National Trust - makes this a very pleasant Sunday afternoon out.

CORSHAM COURT
Corsham, Wilts SN13 0BZ, off A4 5m W of Chippenham. Zone B. Open 2-5.30pm from 20 Mar-30 Sept daily except Mon (apart from BHMs) and Fri, open 2-4.30pm Sat & Sun only from 1 Oct-19 March, admission £6.50 adult/£5 senior/£3 child. Ffi: 01249 701610, www.corsham-court.co.uk • A very grand pile originally built by a wealthy Elizabethan merchant but in the hands of the Methuen family since the 18th century. Impressive house and fabulous grounds, all next to a picture-postcard village... And if that's not reason enough to visit, this place also has a very impressive art collection that includes works by Van Dyck, Filippo Lippi, Michelangelo and Andrea del Sarto.

THE COURTS
Holt, nr Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts BA14 6RR. Zone B. Open daily (except Wed) 11am-5.30pm from 17 Mar-28 Oct, admission £5.30 adult/£2.70 child/£13.60 family. Ffi: 01225 82875, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • Old house originally built by a wealthy 18th-century Quaker cloth merchant, and more recently the property of a rather eccentric spinster (until it was left to the National Trust). The house isn't open to the public, but the fabulous - and very English - gardens are; the National Trust bills the place as “one of Wiltshire’s best-kept secrets” and we wouldn’t argue. The place is full of delights and surprises, with an arboretum, some fun topiary thingies, and, best of all, some wonderful water gardens planted with irises and lilies. A place for grown-ups. And lots of pensioners.

DUNSTER CASTLE
Dunster village, 3m SE of Minehead, Somerset TA24 6SL. Zone D. Gardens open daily 10am-5pm from 15 Mar-2 Nov, castle open Fri-Wed 11am-4.30pm to 23 Jul (to 5pm from 25 Jul-3 Sep), admission £8.60 adult/£4.20 child/£20.50 family. Ffi: 01643 821314, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • Dramatic and imposing castle that, for centuries, was the stronghold of local big-shots the Luttrell family. You're almost in 'Lorna Doone' country here and this place offers a pretty good idea of what Doone Castle was supposed to be like (does anyone read 'Lorna Doone' anymore?). There's been a castle here since Norman times, and there are some medieval remains. Indeed, to most of us it looks right ancient and battle-scarred. So it's always a bit weird to discover that most of it is actually Victorian, but there are some older paintings and furnishings. Anyway, it's dead romantic, and there's a nice garden and miles of gruelling terrace walks if you fancy it, the reward being some terrific views over the Bristol Channel and Somerset coastline. It’s also home to something called “the National Collection of strawberry trees”, though we don’t know what this means. Anyway, you’ve got to go here: it’s one of the nicest days out in Somerset, what with it being at the top of the very pretty and very ancient village of Dunster with its famous medieval Yarn Market. The National Trust also runs an 18th-century working watermill (separate admission charge) in the village. See if you can combine a visit here with a trip on the wonderful West Somerset Railway - with perhaps an excursion to the seaside at Minehead as well.

DYRHAM PARK
Dyrham, Glos SN14 8ER. Zone B. House open Fri-Tue 12noon-5pm from 14 Mar-2 Nov, garden open daily 11am-5pm to 1 Sept (shorter times in winter), full admission £10 adult/£5 child/£25 family. Ffi: 0117 937 2501, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • Built at the end of the 17th century by William Blathwayt, a shrewd operator who made a killing by fair means and foul in the service of William of Orange and his new Protestant regime. Because of the Dutch connection, the house has been loaded with a lot of Dutch school paintings, delftware and other bits and pieces from the golden age of the Dutch Republic, which some visitors, at least, will find fascinating (read Simon Schama’s ‘An Embarrassment of Riches’ if you don’t find it fascinating). The understairs bit, the kitchen and servants’ workplaces are interesting, too. The gardens are very pleasant. There’s a new West Garden - “a contemporary garden with echoes of the past” - open this year, and early on in the season, the place continues the Dutch theme with Tulipomania, a festival of tulips. The park is enormous, with plenty of scope for picnicking. While you're visiting, don't miss the tiny little parish church at the back of the gardens, which isn't actually part of the house but has some wonderfully well-preserved gravestones from the 18th and 19th centuries, each with a poignant tale to tell.

HESTERCOMBE GARDENS
Cheddon Fitzpaine, nr Taunton, Somerset TA2 8LG. Zone D. Open daily 10am-5.30pm (5pm Oct-Mar), entry £7.50 adult & up to two children/£6.95 senior; entry charge includes 10% donation to Hestercombe Gardens Trust under Gift Aid scheme. Ffi: 01823 413923, www.hestercombegardens.com • You can't visit Hestercombe House (as it's the HQ of the Somerset Fire Brigade) but what you can see is one of the country's truly great gardens, originally laid out in the mid-18th century by the mellifluously named Coplestone Warre Bampfylde. They're big and beautiful, and you get three complete period gardens for the price of one - Coplestone's original secret landscape garden, a Victorian terrace garden and a formal Edwardian garden courtesy of Lutyens and Jekyll, no less. Nice tea rooms, too.

HIDCOTE MANOR GARDEN
Hidcote Bartram, nr Chipping Campden, Glos GL55 6LR. Zone D. Open Fri-Wed 10am-6pm to 1 Oct, admission £8.50 adult/£4.25 child/£21.20 family. Ffi: 01386 438333, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • Serious garden fans really rate this place, another of the numerous ‘Arts & Crafts’-style attractions of the Cotswolds, in this case it was the work of a wealthy American Anglophile, Lawrence Johnston, who owned the place in the early 20th century. The gardens are all laid out in different-themed ‘rooms’, each with its own colours and scents, and with different looks for each season. Famous also for lots of rare shrubs, trees and plants from all over the world. Currently they’re working to restore one of the gardens to its original 1930s design. The plant shop does a roaring trade and the place can get seriously crowded during the season.

LACOCK ABBEY & FOX TALBOT MUSEUM
Lacock, nr Chippenham, Wilts SN15 2LG. Zone B. Museum, cloisters & grounds open daily 11am-5.30pm to 2 Nov, abbey open daily except Tue 1-5.30pm to 2 Nov, shorter hours in winter, admission to everything £10 adult/£5 child/£25.50 family. Ffi: 01249 730227, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • Not a religious building (any more), but a country house. The abbey was snapped up for a song by a monstrously unscrupulous chancer named William Sharington during the dissolution of the monasteries. Sharington paid for a lot of building work when he was in charge of the mint at Bristol Castle by keeping a lot of the gold and silver off the books. It was later acquired by the Fox Talbot family, and it was here, in the 1830s, that William Henry Fox Talbot carried out some of the earliest experiments in photography and took the first photograph in England. Our EU partners in France will have you believe that it was they who were responsible for the invention of photography proper, but don’t pay the excitable Gauls too much attention. The house has bags of character - atmospheric cloisters and medieval rooms. If the children complain, tell ’em that some Harry Potter scenes were filmed here. The nearby museum commemorates Fox Talbot's work and traces the development of photography through a series of easy-to-follow displays and exhibits. The abbey features some pleasant Victorian wooded gardens. The village, handed over whole to the National Trust in 1944, is not just lovely, it’s to-die-for lovely, amazingly well-preserved and the star of numerous TV and film costume dramas. The place gets popular at the height of the season and is overrun by coachloads of pensioners and schoolkids and carloads of people. If you've never been here, you must, but do it on a rainy Monday morning in term-time if you want to see anything other than rubbernecking grackles.

LODGE PARK & SHERBORNE ESTATE
Sherborne, nr Cheltenham, Glos GL54 3PP. Zone C. Grandstand & deer park open Fri-Sun only 11am-4pm to 2 Nov, estate open at all times, admission to grandstand £5 adult/£2.80 child/£12.50 family, admission to estate free. Ffi: 01451 844130, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • Created in 1634 by one of the more bizarre aristocratic footnotes in British history, John 'Crump' Dutton. Crump was a hunchback, aesthete, sportsman and inveterate gambler who, in 1634, decided to build a grandstand on a particularly open and windswept part of his estate, where he and his pals would make bets on deer-coursing - deer pursued by dogs, usually greyhounds. The seventh Lord Sherborne left the estate to the National Trust in 1983, and in recent years they've restored the grandstand, relying totally on archaeological evidence. It's well worth a visit - the park behind the grandstand was designed by Charles Bridgeman in the 1720s, and the wider estate (about 4,000 acres of it) offers a range of walks and views. The village of Sherborne is also owned by the Trust.

LYTES CARY MANOR
Charlton Mackrell, nr Somerton, Somerset TA11 7HU. Zone C. Open Sat-Wed 11am-5pm from 15 Mar-2 Nov, admission £7 adult/£3.50 child/£17.50 family. Ffi: 01458 224471, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • Well worth the trip for anyone interested in matters horticultural and herbal. It’s also in the middle of some of that lush, wealthy south Somerset countryside where old houses and the very landscape itself speak of centuries of work. The house (14th-century chapel, 15th-century Great Hall, 16th-century other bits) has bags of character, and it's all restored in appropriate style. The gardens are very formal, with topiary hedges, statues, hidden paths and borders. Lots of these are based on the 16th-century herbal reference book compiled by Henry Lyte, whose home this once was. The rest of the estate offers some pleasant walks and features old plants that were once common on English farmland before the advent of intensive agriculture.

MONTACUTE HOUSE
Montacute, Somerset TA15 6XP. Zone D. Open daily (except Tue) 11am-5pm to 2 Nov, admission £9.50 adult/£4.50 child/£23.50 family. Ffi: 01935 823289, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • One of the National Trust's star attractions in the West Country, this magnificent house was built by Sir Edward Phelips in the late 16th century and is a masterpiece of the Elizabethan renaissance style - all windows, carved stonework, fussy plasterwork and an E-shaped ground plan (well, sort of…). Its most famous interior bit is the Long Gallery, which features over 50 famous paintings of Tudor and Stuart monarchs and big shots from that era on loan from the National Gallery. This is proper big history - you'll recognise many of these characters from your school books. The other big history here is that George Nathaniel Curzon, Marquess Curzon, lived here from 1915 to 1925, some of the time with his mistress, the racy novelist Elinor Glyn. Curzon is one of the most imposing alpha males of British history, and he was living here when he found out that Stanley Baldwin was to be Prime Minister - a job Curzon thought was in the bag. There's also a magnificent tapestry collection, massive formal gardens and historic parkland to wander around in afterwards. It's actually a bit of a grind to get here, especially if you're travelling from Bristol, but the pay-off is some beautiful countryside and some very romantic villages built in lovely yellow-ish stone. Regular living history events and local produce and craftmarkets over the summer.

NEWARK PARK
Ozleworth, Wotton-under-Edge, Glos GL12 7PZ. Zone C. Open 11am-5pm Wed & Thur only from 19 Mar-29 May and Wed, Thur, Sat, Sun & BHMs from 1 June-2 Nov, admission £5.60 adult/£2.80 child/£14.50 family. Ffi: 01453 842644, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • Bit of a secret, this place. It's a (mostly) Georgian manor house (though with older bits), which has bags of atmosphere and fabulous views off the side of the 40ft cliff that it's perched on. Interesting gardens, though the main horticultural selling point is its snowdrop displays in February. A good place to visit if you want to avoid crowds. Also good jumping-off point for countryside and Cotswold Way walks.

OWLPEN MANOR
Owlpen, nr Uley, Glos GL11 5BZ. Zone C. Open 2-5pm (gardens & restaurant open 12noon-5pm) Tue, Thur & Sun only from 1 May-30 Sept, admission £5.50 adult/£2.50 ages 4-14/£15.25 family. Ffi: 01453 860261, www.owlpen.com • Bills itself as "one of the most romantic manor houses in England", and you certainly wouldn’t turn it down if you inherited it... Set in a hidden wooded valley and comes with plenty of nice walks around the estate, charming cottages, an early 19th-century church and very old formal gardens which (like so many gardens in this part of the world) feature lots of yew. The house is lived in by its owners, the Mander family, which always adds something of a voyeuristic frisson to a visit. It boasts a few interesting historical bits and quite a few pieces of 20th-century art, proving that someone among the Manders has superb taste. Some of the cottages are available for hire and no less than the Prince of Wales described Owlpen as "the epitome of the English village". There's also a very atmospheric (and fully licensed) restaurant specialising in locally-reared beef and Swedish fish dishes; it’s open for lunches and cream teas, and also for dinner on Friday and Saturday nights.

PAINSWICK ROCOCO GARDEN
Painswick, nr Stroud, Glos GL6 6TH. Zone C. Open daily 11am-5pm to 31 Oct, admission £5.50 adult/£4.50 over-60s/£2.75 ages 5-16/£15 family. Ffi: 01452 813204, www.rococogarden.co.uk • Large rambling garden, originally laid out in the 18th-century rococo style and now restored to its original glories. Lots of architectural oddities and surprises, and bags of tranquillity. No matter how many people are here, it does have a wonderful feel of peace and quiet. If you visit, don't miss the nearby Painswick village and the bizarre, ornate graveyard with its curious tombs and tree-lined walkways.

THE PETO GARDEN
Iford Manor, Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts BA15 2BA. Zone B. Open 2-5pm Sun & BHMs only from Easter to end Apr, from May-Sept open 2-5pm daily except Mon & Fri (but does open BHMs), Suns only in Oct, admission £4.50 adult/£4 senior, student & child over 10/children under 10 admitted free Tue-Thur. Ffi: 01225 863146, www.ifordmanor.co.uk • One of the region's best gardens, laid out in Italian style by Edwardian architect and landscape designer Harold Peto, who lived at Iford Manor from 1899-1933. It's unquestionably one of the most romantic gardens in the region, with lots of pools, terraces, sculpture, evergreen planting, magnificent rural views and all sorts of hidden delights to discover. Its homemade teas on Sat & Sun over the summer months are highly recommended. Note that the gardens are not suitable for unsupervised small children.

PRIOR PARK LANDSCAPE GARDEN
Ralph Allen Drive, Bath BA2 5AH. Zone A. Open daily (except Tue) 11am-5.30pm to 31 Oct, 11am-dusk Sat & Sun only in winter months, admission £5 adult/£2.80 child/£12.80 family. Ffi: 01225 833422, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • Wonderful 18th-century landscaped garden, running in unspeakable tranquillity down a small, steep valley to the edge of Bath, with lakes, a grotto and a "wilderness" woodland area with mazy paths. Ornamental features include a Palladian bridge (one of only four in the world) with genuine 18th-century graffiti. A bracing one-mile walk (steep in places), using original pathways restored with traditional materials, rewards you with panoramic views over Bath. When the National Trust opened the place to the public a few years ago, it had the then rather daring idea of making it completely car-hostile. There is no parking here (except for disabled visitors - phone to arrange), though it’s easily reached by Park & Ride buses, tour buses or the No 2 Bath-Combe Down service. It is hugely popular with Bathonians, leading onto the wonderful Bath Skyline walk and hosting lots of family-friendly events through the summer.

RODMARTON MANOR
Nr Cirencester, Glos GL7 6PF. Zone D. Open Wed, Sat & BHMs 2-5pm from May-Sept, plus other times for group tours by prior arrangement, house & garden admission £7/£3.50 ages 5-15. Ffi: 01285 841253, www.rodmarton-manor.co.uk • Arts and Crafts-style manor house built in the early 20th century by an idealistic couple who paid loads of local artists and craftspeople to do everything from the building itself down to the furniture and fittings, keeping some old Cotswold crafts alive in the neighbourhood as a result. It's almost all of it still there for you to see. The eight-acre gardens (mostly wheelchair-friendly) were laid out at the same time as a series of outdoor 'rooms' (as was the fashion), each with their own character, and they're still pretty much intact. They’re worth a look even in winter for the wealth of snowdrops that bloom, particularly in January/February.

SNOWSHILL MANOR
Snowshill, nr Broadway, Glos WR12 7JU. Zone D. Open Wed-Sun 12-5pm to 2 Nov, admission to house by timed ticket due to restrictions on numbers, £8.10 adult/£4.10 child/£20.60 family. Ffi: 01386 852410, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • Requires expert navigation to find and is not really suitable for young children, pushchairs or people with mobility problems... But it's essential viewing - and quite possibly our favourite National Trust property in the region. This is because it's less a historic house and more a shrine to the soul of a man who was a true English eccentric. It was bought in 1919 by Charles Paget Wade, a war veteran and architect who had inherited a sizeable fortune and now used it to house his collections. Wade was an admirer of craftsmanship in all sorts of different fields and filled the house with whatever stuff took his fancy - clocks, lace, samurai armour and weapons, bicycles and children's toys. Eventually there was so much stuff in the house that he converted some outhouses into his living quarters, where he'd sit by the fire for hours on end listening to the BBC Home Service. The village women brought him food because they feared he might starve. All this is fascinating and poignant enough, but your visit also gets you into the gardens, all terraced and full of 'rooms' and absolutely magical. Look out for the spectacular sundial and the gateways bearing Latin and olde worlde mottoes of Wade's own devising (he also wrote poetry). The restaurant serves organic produce grown on the estate, and boasts fantastic views over the Cotswolds.

STOURHEAD GARDEN & HOUSE
Stourton, Warminster, Wilts BA12 6QD. Zone C. Garden open daily 9am-7pm, house open Fri-Tue 11.30am-4.30pm to 2 Nov, admission to house & garden £11.60 adult/£5.80 child/£27.60 family, King Alfred's Tower £2.60 adult/£1.40 child/£5.70 family. Ffi: 01747 841152, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • One of Britain's truly outstanding gardens and the National Trust's star attraction in this part of the world. The gardens were landscaped in the 18th century, complete with lake, bridges, temples, grottos... Loads to discover, and even if you spend a whole day, you won't find everything. The house is OK, though you're not missing too much if you're not into National Trust houses (this one boasts some fine 18th-century paintings and Chippendale furniture). King Alfred's Tower on the edge of the estate, on the other hand, is a must. A marvellous folly, offering views for miles around, it was built on what was thought to be the site of the Battle of Edington, the great showdown between King Alfred and the Danes. In truth, we don't have a clue where the actual battle took place, but an inscription on the tower is stirring stuff: "Alfred the great AD 879 on this summit erected his standard against the Danish invaders. To him we owe the origin of juries, the establishment of a militia, the creation of a naval force. Alfred, the light of a benighted age was a philosopher and a Christian, the father of his people..." Must-see place, with a hugely busy programme of events through the summer, from fun family stuff through to serious historical intellectual pursuits.

SUDELEY CASTLE
Winchcombe, nr Cheltenham, Glos GL54 5JD. Zone D. Open daily 10.30am-5pm from 15 Mar-31 Oct, closed in winter, admission £7.20 adult/£6.20 senior/£5.20 age 5-15/£20.80 family. Ffi: 01242 602308, www.sudeleycastle.co.uk • Now you probably think you don’t know anything much about this place, but maybe you do. It was probably the model for Blandings Castle in the P.G. Wodehouse stories. It was also the subject of a TV documentary last year about attempts to turn its business fortunes round. It’s also part owned by Henry Dent-Brocklehurst, film producer and socialite who outraged the neighbours a few years back with plans (now on hold) to give the old pile the full Alton Towers treatment. Also, Henry’s very good friend, Her Elizabethness of Hurley, got married here last year. With all that celebrity fairy-dust on the place, you don’t need any history, do you? Well, it was once the home of Katherine Parr, last wife of Henry VIII. When the revolting old tyrant died, she married Sir Thomas Seymour (whom she'd always fancied), who owned this place. Tragically, Kate's happiness was all too short-lived, as she died in childbirth here. There's little left of the house/castle in which she lived, as it was knocked down in the Civil War and left derelict for 200 years until the Dent family, who'd made their pile by making gloves, bought the place and built a posh house. The house itself is reasonably interesting, but the gardens are magnificent and have won all manner of awards. There’s also a very good adventure playground, a pheasant and wildfowl area and a busy programme of events over the summer. But, but… Elizabeth Hurley got married here. Here! Wow.

TYNTESFIELD
Wraxall, N. Somerset BS48 1NT. Zone B. Open Sat-Wed 11am-5pm to 2 Nov, admission £10.40 adult/£5.25 child/£26 family. Ffi: 0870 458 4500, www.nationaltrust.org.uk/places/tyntesfield • Built in the 19th century on the proceeds of its owner's trade in guano (bird poo - it was used as fertiliser), this fabulous Gothic mansion set in hundreds of acres of rolling countryside is now firmly on the map as one of the West’s leading heritage attractions. The National Trust held a huge appeal to raise the cash to buy the place from the heirs of the late Lord Wraxall in summer 2002, but it was in a hell of a mess. The house had fallen on hard times, along with the financial fortunes of the once fabulously wealthy Gibbs family that built it. Now a massive conservation and preservation programme is underway, while at the same time the Trust is trying to show it us eager punters (and get some cash off us in the process). It is extremely popular, and for this reason admission to the house is by timed ticket only. On busy days you might not get in at all, so best visit on a weekday in term-time. Once you see it, of course, you’ll understand what all the fuss is about; everyone who's seen it has their own favourite bit, whether it's the library, the billiard room (with its Victorian hi-tech gadgets) or the lavish, completely over-the-top High Anglican chapel that even the most flamboyant Catholic would consider excessive. The gardens and grounds are nice for a stroll as well, which is just as well as you might be there a wee while awaiting your turn to see inside the house. A must-see, and if you live in Bristol there’s no excuse now as they’ve put a bus stop right outside the gate.

WESTBURY COURT GARDEN
Westbury-on-Severn, Glos GL14 1PD. Zone C. Open Wed-Sun 10am-5pm to 26 Oct (also open Mon & Tue 1 July-31 Aug), admission £4.50 adult/£2.25 child/£11.60 family. Ffi: 01452 670461, www.nationaltrust.org.uk • One of the most spectacular gardens in the region - a Dutch-style water garden originally laid out in the early 18th century and now fully restored. Also home to loads of different varieties of English apples and what's claimed to be the oldest evergreen oak tree in England. Visit midweek during term-time, and you could have this fascinating and rather undervalued place pretty much to yourself.

WESTONBIRT ARBORETUM
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WILTON HOUSE
Nr Salisbury, Wilts SP2 0BJ. Zone D. Gardens open daily 11am-5.30pm Easter weekend, then 5 Apr-28 Sept; house open Easter weekend, then Sun-Thur 5 Apr-28 Aug. Open Tue-Thur from 1-28 Sept, 12noon-5pm, admission to house & gardens £12 adult/£9.75 senior, student/£6.50 ages 5-15/£29.50 family. Ffi: 01722 746720, www.wiltonhouse.co.uk • Hugely imposing stately pile with something for all the family. The Earls of Pembroke, who own the place, have a better gene pool going for them than a lot of aristocrats down the years - in the sense that they were always close to the centre of the military or political action. The house is consequently one of those places that's seen a lot of big history, and it's got a truly fabulous collection of paintings, plus lots of carvings by Inigo Jones. The landscaped grounds go on for ever, and there's a fantastic adventure playground. Look out also for the astonishing Pembroke Palace Doll’s House.

WOODCHESTER MANSION
Nr Nympsfield, off B4066 Dursley-Stroud road, Glos GL10 3TS. Zone C. Mansion opening dates vary but include every Sun and some Sats and BHMs Mar-Oct, phone or check website for exact dates, admission £5.50 adult/£4.50 concs/under-14s free. Ffi: 01453 861541, www.woodchestermansion.org.uk • A wonderful oddity - a Victorian mansion in the gothic revival style that was never completed. It's now run by a preservation trust - partly for conservation purposes and partly as a training ground for stonemasons, who've pledged to see to its upkeep, but to never finish the job! What you see is the hollow shell of a building, with all the stonework and lots of the plaster in place, just waiting for some floorboards, plumbing, and wallpaper that's never going to arrive. Surprisingly, given that no-one ever lived here, let alone died here, the mansion has gained the reputation of being one of the most spooky places in England, and groups of paranormal enthusiasts regularly hang out here. The best way to approach the site is to stop by the Coaley Peak picnic site on the B4066 (nice view), then cross the road to the main gates of Woodchester Valley. You can then walk along the mile-or-so of woodland track to the house, or use the (wheelchair-friendly) minibus service if you're visiting the mansion. The whole valley is a hidden delight - fairly quiet now, but it's been inhabited since before Roman times. If you don't actually fancy touring the house, the grounds alone are vast and spectacular, with ornamental lakes, a hidden garden and acres of way-marked woodland and grassy walks. The grounds are run separately by the National Trust (open 9am-dusk daily all year round, admission free, but there’s a pay & display car park fee). A magical place. The odd whistling noise overhead is the gliders form the nearby club.

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