20 minutes' drive
A picturesque village owned by the National Trust with many well-preserved characterful buildings dating from the 13th century. There's a medieval cloistered abbey converted into a fine country house with a botanic garden and Victorian woodland. Lacock Abbey – where the first ever photo negative was created in 1835 – also houses the fascinating Fox Talbot Museum of Photography.
Fun fact: Lacock has been used as a location in many films, including Harry Potter, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Moll Flanders, Cranford and The Other Boleyn Girl.
35 minutes' drive
One of the world’s finest landscape gardens owned by the National Trust. There is an absolutely beautiful lakeside walk with stunning vistas towards ornate classical temples and exotic trees. Stourhead also has a Palladian mansion with Chippendale furniture, fine paintings and a Regency library. The wider estate has Iron Age hill forts and the 50m high King Alfred’s Tower.
30 minutes' drive
This elegant Robert Adam-designed stately home is filled with unique treasures, including a fine collection of paintings, sculptures, tapestries, porcelain, jewellery and costumes. It also houses the laboratory where oxygen was discovered. The parkland with its lake, cascade, temple, grotto and arboretum was designed by Capability Brown. For children, there is an adventure playground and soft play palace.
25 minutes' drive
This grand baroque mansion is set amidst beautiful rolling parkland owned by the National Trust. It houses a magnificent collection of 17th century Dutch paintings, pottery and furniture. You can also see Victorian domestic quarters for an insight into the lives of servants. There are also lovely walks around the elegant formal gardens, a deer park, woodland and lakes.
5 minutes' drive
This 14th century castle, owned by English Heritage, has many unique features and is set in a picturesque valley. It has a largely intact gatehouse, a curtain wall and substantial ruined towers. There's also a well-preserved 14th century chapel featuring rare medieval wall paintings and stained glass windows. Underneath the chapel lies a burial vault housing the best collection of human-shaped lead coffins in Britain.
5 minutes' drive
The National Trust owns this charming 15th century stone manor house with topiary garden. It boasts exceptional period furniture, 17th and 18th century tapestries and needlework, ornate Jacobean plasterwork and Gothic and Jacobean windows.
10 minutes' drive
Privately owned Ilford Manor Estate is the setting for an award-winning Grade I listed garden designed by Harold Peto in the Italian style with terraces, colonnades, statues and cypress trees. The tranquil and romantic hillside setting offers magnificent views. The cloisters built by Peto house his collection of classical treasures. The gardens also host annual opera and jazz festivals.