Stately Homes & Gardens in Wiltshire

Wiltshire is home to a world-class collection of gardens and stately homes. Wiltshire's sweeping landscapes are studded with horticultural gems. Find out more about our houses and gardens, the perfect places to step back in time whilst enjoying the present.

Stourhead's harmonic vistas - especially the classic view of the Turf Bridge, lake and Pantheon on the opposite shore - seem to epitomise the county as a whole. This outstanding stately home, one of Wiltshire's finest 18th-century landscaped gardens, is a delicious mix of formal and informal features. And it's not just the gardens that draw visitors, for at Stourhead's heart lies a Palladian mansion filled with glittering furnishings and object d'art.

At Bowood House and Gardens, master landscaper 'Capability' Brown created a flowing mix of woodlands and lawns sloping down to a lake, overlooked by the formal terraces of an imposing stately home. Bowood has an all-round appeal, for set amongst its woods is an imaginatively designed Adventure Playground for younger visitors. Bowood was awarded 'Garden of the Year' in 2014.

Abbey House Gardens sits in the heart of Malmesbury, in north Wiltshire. There are 5 acres of gardens to explore and over 1,000 years of history.

Longleat is a beautiful stately home in Wiltshire and also attracts a family audience. The house, seat of the Marquess of Bath, is surrounded by magnificent grounds that again bear the mark of industrious 18th-century landscaper 'Capability' Brown.

Wilton House is another stately home in Wiltshire. Here, the magnificent 450-year-old house - seen in films such as Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice - stands amongst parklands, woodlands and water gardens.

Lydiard House and Park near Swindon is a Georgian jewel. With its formal parkland, pasture, beautiful woodland walks, avenues and lake, it still retains the grand design of its 18th-century heyday.

The Larmer Tree gardens in the south of the county were originally designed as pleasure grounds for 'public enlightenment and entertainment' and are recognised by English Heritage as a garden of national importance. 

Mompesson House in Salisbury’s Cathedral Close is a Queen Anne style with a small, courtyard garden. It was also used in the film Sense and Sensibility.

Arundells, also within Salisbury's Cathedral Close is the home of former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath and opens on a guided tour basis with occasional free-flow days. It features Sir Edward's collections of musical and sailing memorabilia and a beautiful 2 acre riverside garden.

Make sure you also visit The Peto Garden, a little corner of Italy at Iford Manor, near Bradford on Avon.

Just a quick hop over the Wiltshire borders are the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens in Hampshire, world famous for its 180 acre gardens and arboretum, Kelmscott Manor, home of designer William Morris and the Westonbirt, The National Arboretum in Gloucestershire.