Kingston Lacy was built in the 1660s for Sir Ralph Bankes after the family's Corfe Castle was slighted in the Civil War, and in the 1830s William John Bankes had Charles Barry remake it as a Venetian palace, filling it with paintings by Rubens, Titian and Van Dyck, the Spanish Room, and Egyptian antiquities including the Philae obelisk on the south lawn. The garden runs from a fernery and parterre through Japanese-inspired planting to a kitchen garden under restoration, with two play areas along the way; parkland grazed by Red Devon cattle and Portland sheep leads to woodland trails, a cycle track and, further out, Badbury Rings hillfort. Reviewers love the room guides, the servants' quarters with their bells, and the Japanese and fern gardens. Tips from visitors: house entry is by timed ticket and not guaranteed, so ask at reception as soon as you arrive; dogs on leads may use the parkland, woods and Stables courtyard but not the formal garden; and Badbury Rings has its own car park.
