Stourhead was called 'a living work of art' when its garden opened in the 1740s. Henry Hoare II dammed the River Stour to make a lake and ringed it with the Temple of Flora, the Temple of Apollo, a grotto and a Pantheon modelled on the one in Rome. The house, one of the first Palladian villas in England, holds a Regency library, Chippendale furniture and a picture gallery to which Angelica Kauffman's Penelope and Euriclea returned after 140 years away. Beyond lie 2,650 acres of chalk downs, ancient woods and Iron Age hillforts, with waymarked walks out to Alfred's Tower, a 160ft folly with views over three counties. Reviewers love the lake circuit in every season, from snowdrops to rhododendrons, and praise the room guides and the library. Tips from visitors: only the ground floor of the house is shown, the loos are a fair walk from the lake so go before setting off, and dogs on short leads are welcome in the garden all year.
