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but especially take care not to tip over going over the hump back bridge if in a wheelchair and grotto/lakeside buildings inaccessible to wheelchairs/scooters
Stourhead Through The Seasons

Stourton, Warminster, Wiltshire, BA12 6QF

Nowhere more so than with my photographs of Stourhead, taken through the seasons, do I lean on pictures to tell the story of why Wiltshire is my home county. It is predictable but autumn is my favourite time as the colours can be spectacular, but also a frosty morning can make for some wonderful images. In the winter of 2010 Stourhead lake even froze over, and the photographs of that were taken on Boxing Day. The gardens were designed by Henry Hoare II and laid out between 1741 and 1780.

I'm sometimes asked about disabled access as I am now dependent on wheels, well an all-terrain mobility scooter is best for around the lake, though a strong companion and a wheelchair with good wheels may suffice, as for around the house a wheelchair lift is usually available to get up the front steps, to check all aspects see Stourhead's availability and accessibility statements on their website. Disabled Access

Film/TV Location For: Pride and Prejudice (famously where Lizzie initially rejects Darcy’s marriage proposal; The Secret Of My Success; The Pallisers; Barry Lyndon; He Knew He Was Right; The Queen: The Life Of A Monarch

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wheelchair accessible - ask for stair lift
Stourhead House

Stourhead House is a Grade I listed 18th Century Palladian mansion. In 1717 to Henry Hoare bought the Stourhead estate, he was the son of wealthy banker Sir Richard Hoare. The new house was built for him between 1721 and 1725. The last Hoare family member to own Stourhead, Sir Henry Hoare, gave the it to the National Trust in 1946, one year before his death. His son and sole heir, Captain Henry Colt Arthur "Harry" Hoare, of the Queen's Own Dorset Yeomanry, had died of wounds received at the Battle of Mughar Ridge during World War I. Most of the ground floor is open to the public, the upper floor is not, I think that a Hoare family relative lives in an apartment upstairs. There is a stairlift brought out on request for wheelchair users to limb the front steps.

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not wheelchair accessible
King Alfred's Tower

King Alfred’s Tower is a 160ft high folly, designed by Henry Flitcroft for Henry Hoare II in 1772. It is believed to mark the site where King Alfred the Great rallied his troops in 878. After ascending the throne, Alfred spent several years fighting Viking invasions. He won a decisive victory in the Battle of Edington in 878. The tower commemorates the accession of George III to the throne in 1760 and the end of the Seven Years War.