- Heritage

Clavell Tower

Since the summer of 1830, Clavell Tower has stood sentinel on a wild and open stretch of the Dorset coast. It was built by a seventy-year-old clergyman, The Reverend John Richards Clavell, who unexpectedly inherited the Smedmore Estate, on which it stands, in 1817. Why he built the tower is not clear; it has served as both folly and seamark since. With its twelve columns and pierced parapets all of local stone, a journalist reporting its completion called it ‘as elegant a building as any the county of Dorset can boast of ’. The young Thomas Hardy used the tower as a frontispiece for his Wessex Poems and courted a local coastguard’s daughter here…

Old Campden House

The site of Old Campden House, a Scheduled Ancient Monument, is owned and managed by the Landmark Trust, a building preservation charity. The main house was burnt to the ground during the Civil War but other buildings remain. The East and West Banqueting Houses and Almonry have been restored and are let for holidays throughout the year. Full details of Landmark’s 189 historic and architecturally important buildings are featured in the Landmark Trust Handbook (price £10 plus P&P refundable against first booking)…

Wilmington Priory

Founded by the Benedictines in the 11th century, the surviving, much altered buildings date largely from the 14th century. Managed and maintained by the Landmark Trust,which lets buildings for self-catering holidays. Full details of Wilmington Priory and 189 other historic and architecturally important buildings available for holidays are featured in The Landmark Trust Handbook (price £10 plus P&P refundable against a booking) and on the website…

Freston Tower

An Elizabethan six-storey tower overlooking the estuary of the River Orwell. The tower was built in 1578 by a wealthy Ipswich merchant called Thomas Gooding, perhaps to celebrate the recent grant of his coat of arms. Freston Tower is cared for by The Landmark Trust, a building preservation charity who let it for holidays. Full details of Freston Tower and 189 other historic and architecturally important buildings are featured in the Landmark Trust Handbook (price £10 plus P&P refundable against a booking) and on the website…

Dolbelydr

A 16th century, Grade II* listed building, a fine example of a 16th century gentry house and has good claim to be the birthplace of the modern Welsh language. It was at Dolbelydr that Henry Salesbury wrote his Grammatica Britannica. Dolbelydr is cared for by The Landmark Trust, a building preservation charity who let it for holidays. Full details of Dolbelydr and 189 other historic and architecturally important buildings are featured in the Landmark Trust Handbook (£10 plus P&P refundable against a booking) and on the website…

Auchinleck House

One of the finest examples of an 18th century Scottish country house, the importance of which is further enhanced by its association with James Boswell, author of The Life of Samuel Johnson. The house has been restored by the Landmark Trust and is let for holidays for up to 13 people. Full details of Auchinleck House and 189 other historic and architecturally important buildings are featured in the Landmark Trust Handbook (price £10 plus P&P refundable against booking) and on the website…

Glenmalloch Lodge

Glenmalloch Lodge represents the aristocratic philanthropy that characterised the Victorian Age at its best. It lies in the middle of a wild glen, framed by wide views of the surrounding hills, with the Solway Firth just a mile or so away. The cottage was built originally not as a lodge, but rather as a picturesque schoolhouse through the philanthropy of Harriet, Countess of Galloway, some time before 1842. The Earls of Galloway had been shaping and planning these Galloway parishes for decades and Harriet worked with her husband, the 9th Earl, to orchestrate an impressive programme of educational and social initiatives over some forty years. Once, twenty-five girls were instructed in reading, writing, arithmetic and needlework in this tiny building…

Queen Anne's Summerhouse

The outstanding fine brickwork of this foursquare folly makes it likely to date from the early eighteenth century, as its name suggests. Surrounded by the flora and forna of a beautiful woodland, with the model village of Old Warden just down the drive, this is a magical spot. The Landmark Trust, a building preservation charity, has undertaken a major restoration of the building which is now available for holidays all year round. Full details of Queen Anne’s Summerhouse and 189 other historic and architecturally important buildings are featured in the Landmark Trust Handbook (£10 plus P&P refundable against a booking) and on the website…

Abbey Gatehouse

In January 1539, on the orders of King Henry VIII, the Abbot of Tewkesbury and the monks of his Chapter accepted the dissolution of their monastery and surrendered their property. The buildings of the great Benedictine Abbey were divided by the administrators (“the King’s Visitors”) into two categories: “superstitious buildings to be destroyed” and those that were “convenient to be preserved”…

Alton Station

Alton Station was built in 1849 as part of the Churnet Valley branch line for the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR). The plans for the Churnet Valley Line had been laid in 1845, the first of the years of railway mania, but it was not begun until 1847 by which time improved methods of engineering and construction had been developed, and railway architecture was at its most inventive and attractive…