Stourhead
Stourton, near Mere, Wiltshire
Stourhead is the National Trust's celebrated 18th-century landscape garden in Wiltshire, where a circuit walk around an artificial lake reveals temples, a grotto, bridges and long framed views.
Visit information checked 22 October 2026
Garden UK guide
Why visit Stourhead?
Stourhead is a garden designed like a painting you can walk through. Henry Hoare II laid it out around a large artificial lake, inspired by the Italian landscapes of Claude Lorrain, Poussin and Gaspard Dughet, and the path around the water is planned so that each temple frames the next. It is one of the most famous English landscape gardens, and the circuit walk is the reason to come.
Set off round the lake and you will pass the Temple of Flora, one of the earliest buildings, then the grotto and the Gothic Cottage on the far shore. The Pantheon, the most important building in the design, draws you across the water, and once you reach it the view back across the lake pulls you on again. The Temple of Apollo rises from a wooded slope above, and gives a high view over rhododendrons, water, cascades and temples. At the eastern end the five-arched Palladian Bridge makes the classic picture, and look out for the medieval Bristol High Cross, moved here from Bristol.
Gardeners will learn a lot about massing trees and shrubs. Henry Hoare himself wrote that greens should be grouped in large masses like the shades in a painting, with dark masses lifted by lighter greens, and you can see that idea at work on every bank. For a longer outing, King Alfred's Tower, a 50-metre brick folly, stands on a hill on the wider estate.
What to see
- The circuit walk around the artificial lake, planned as a series of framed views.
- The Pantheon, the most important building in the garden's design.
- The grotto, whose inscription inspired the National Trust's own typeface.
- The Temple of Apollo, with high views over the lake and rhododendrons.
- The five-arched Palladian Bridge and the medieval Bristol High Cross.
- King Alfred's Tower, a 50-metre brick folly on the wider estate.
Stourhead through the year
- spring
- Rhododendrons flower on the banks around the lake and the trees come into fresh leaf.
- summer
- The lake circuit is lush and green, ideal for a long walk and picnics on the wider estate.
- autumn
- The trees around the lake turn colour and reflect in the water, the garden's most popular season.
- winter
- The temples and bridges stand out clearly through bare branches, giving the views a crisp, open feel.
The story behind the garden
Henry Hoare, son of the banker Sir Richard Hoare, bought the estate in 1717 and built the Palladian house designed by Colen Campbell. His son Henry Hoare II designed the gardens, laid out between 1741 and 1780 by damming a small stream to make the lake. Henry Flitcroft built the Temple of Ceres, now the Temple of Flora, in 1744, the Temple of Hercules or Pantheon in 1754 and the Temple of Apollo in 1765, and designed King Alfred's Tower, completed in 1772.
His grandson Sir Richard Colt Hoare inherited in 1783, added the boathouse, removed features that did not suit the classical and Gothic style, and greatly enriched the planting. The house was gutted by fire in 1902 and rebuilt. Sir Henry Hoare, 6th Baronet, gave Stourhead to the National Trust in 1946, and the garden was listed Grade I in 1987.
Plan your visit
- Best for
- Anyone who enjoys classic English landscape gardens, lakeside walks and garden history, as well as film fans who know the Temple of Apollo.
- Getting there
- Stourhead is at Stourton in south-west Wiltshire, about two and a half miles north-west of Mere.
- Before you go
- The lake circuit takes a couple of hours at an easy pace, longer if you add the house or the walk to King Alfred's Tower. Check the National Trust website for current opening times, tickets and access information.
Source: Wikipedia: Stourhead
Questions about visiting Stourhead
How long is the walk around Stourhead lake?
The main circuit around the lake is an easy walk that most people take a couple of hours over, stopping at the temples and viewpoints. Allow longer if you add the house or King Alfred's Tower.
Is Stourhead National Trust?
Yes. Sir Henry Hoare, the last of the family to own it, gave Stourhead to the National Trust in 1946. The Trust now cares for the garden, the Palladian house and much of the wider estate.
Who designed Stourhead garden?
Henry Hoare II designed the garden and laid it out between 1741 and 1780 around a lake made by damming a small stream. The architect Henry Flitcroft designed the main temples and King Alfred's Tower.
When is the best time to visit Stourhead?
Autumn is the most popular time, when the trees around the lake turn colour. Spring is also good for rhododendrons, and the temples and views are rewarding in any season.
Was Pride and Prejudice filmed at Stourhead?
Yes. The Temple of Apollo appears in Joe Wright's 2005 film of Pride and Prejudice as the setting for Mr Darcy's first proposal to Elizabeth Bennet.
Garden features
Location
Stourton, near Mere, Wiltshire
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