ON THE CHASE
TOP TIP
STOURHEAD
This 18th-century landscape garden on the Wiltshire-Somerset border was once referred to as “a living work of art”. It was designed in the Arcadian style by Henry Hoare II in the 1740s. The River Stour was dammed to form a magnificent lake, which reflects the beauty of the neoclassical temples within the gardens. Jane Austen fans may recognise Stourhead from the 2005 film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. It is at the garden’s Temple of Apollo that Mr Darcy first proposes to Elizabeth Bennett.
Visitors to Stourhead, which is now owned by the National Trust, can walk around the 2,650-acre estate exploring grottoes and bridges, as well as chalk downs, ancient woods and parkland. The gardens are stunning all year round,
