Charlecote Park

Charlecote Park has been the home of the Lucy family since the 12th century, and the present house was built beside the River Avon by Sir Thomas Lucy in the 1550s, the same Lucy whom legend says caught a young William Shakespeare poaching deer here. Capability Brown shaped the parkland in the 1760s, and a herd of fallow deer has grazed it since Tudor times, joined today by Jacob sheep. Inside, the Victorian interiors reflect the tastes of Mary Elizabeth Lucy, and the outbuildings hold a carriage collection, laundry, brewhouse and kitchen that reviewers find as absorbing as the house. Families get a play area with bats, balls and rackets to borrow, and dogs can walk the parkland on set routes. Reviewers praise the room stewards and the wisteria on the house in May. Tips from visitors: the car park is across the road, so you pass through the shop and plant centre before the long driveway walk to the house, and arriving early in school holidays avoids the crowds.