Stourhead

Henry Hoare II, a banker, laid out the garden between 1741 and 1780 after returning from the Grand Tour, damming the Stour to make a lake and setting classical buildings around it: a Pantheon, a Temple of Apollo, a Temple of Flora and a grotto with a sleeping nymph and a river god. The point is that it is designed as a sequence rather than a view: the path runs one way round the lake and each turn opens a composed scene, with buildings appearing and disappearing, explicitly modelled on the paintings of Claude Lorrain, one of which Hoare owned. It is among the earliest and most complete English landscape gardens. Later planting of rhododendrons and exotic trees in the nineteenth century added colour that the original scheme did not have and which purists regret.

What you actually see

• The lake circuit - a one-way path opening composed views in sequence.
• The Pantheon - a domed temple across the water, the central set piece.
• The grotto - a cold cave with a sleeping nymph and a river god figure.
• The autumn colour - nineteenth-century exotic planting, at its best in late October.

When to go

Late April to early June for rhododendrons and fresh leaf, late October to early November for the autumn colour the garden is best known for. Both draw large crowds and timed tickets are used in peak weeks.

Honest expectations

The circuit is about three kilometres on uneven paths with steps and can be muddy. Autumn weekends are extremely busy and the car park fills early. The house is a separate visit with its own opening hours.

Nearby

Alfred's Tower stands on the estate; Longleat and Shaftesbury lie north and south.