Chastleton House

Built between 1607 and 1612 for the wool merchant Walter Jones, Chastleton House stayed with his increasingly hard-up descendants until 1991, and because nobody could afford to modernise it the interiors survived almost untouched. The National Trust preserves rather than restores, so rooms on three floors keep their worn fabrics and accumulated clutter, and the story runs on to the bohemian family who lived here from the 1950s. Outside are the walled Best Garden with its topiary, a dovecote and the croquet lawns where the modern rules of the game were codified in 1865. Reviewers praise the knowledgeable volunteers and the home-made cakes local charities serve in the church, since there is no cafe. Tips from visitors: the free car park is a steep few hundred metres above the house, the house has no step-free access, and dogs may only use the car park, parkland and stable yard.