Ruins of Muchelney Abbey -
Photo: Val Ghose CCL

Late medieval hall house in a picturesque village.

The house was built by Muchelney Abbey in 1308 for the parish priest and has been little altered since the hall was divided in the early 17th century.

Interesting features include the Gothic doorway, beautiful double-height tracery windows and a massive 15th-century stone fireplace.

The house is occupied and furnished by tenants.

Nearby Muchelney Abbey (EH) can also be visited.

The last remaining thatched windmill in England.











Dating from 1822 and in use until 1910, the mill is prominently situated overlooking the Somerset Levels.

Stembridge Tower Mill -
Photo: Patrick Mackie CCL

Ham Hill - Photo: Jim Champion CCL

Somerset is a region of highs and lows. Along the middle and northern parts, low coastline meets the marshy "Levels," while further inland lie the freshwater and peaty marshlands known as the "Moors."

Most of this area is no more than 80 feet above sea level.

Among these expanses of flatlands lie five ranges of hills: the Mendips, Quantocks, Poldens, Blackdowns, and Brendons.

The topography here, as anywhere, has played a role in how the land has been used over the centuries.

Climb a hill in Somerset today and you may well see grazing land, roads, low-lying villages. You may also catch sight of drainage channels, locally known as rhynes (pronounced "reens").

These are key to why much of you see is land inhabited and used by people rather than simply being watery marsh.  More...

It's hardly surprising that Somerset, that English county famed for both Bath and Glastonbury, is one of the best areas to visit to see a wonderful collection of English churches.









But the real treasures are the lesser-known parish churches, still in use hundreds of years after they were first constructed. Leave the tourist trail, and you'll find some of the most marvellous Saxon and medieval architecture and decoration in the country. More...

Langport Chapel  - Photo: Liz Martin CCL

Jekyll-inspired garden, working kitchen garden and Tudor manor house.

The enchanting formal garden, influenced by Gertrude Jekyll, is laid out in a series of walled rooms, including the White Garden, the Rose and Iris Garden and the Lily Garden.

The working kitchen garden has espaliered apple, pear and plum trees trained along high stone walls.

Barrington Court - Photo: Neil Kennedy CCL

Lytes Carey Manor - Photo: Neil Kennedy CCL

Intimate manor house with walled gardens and estate.



The house with its 14th-century chapel and 15th-century Great Hall was much added to in the 16th century.



In the 20th century it was rescued from dereliction by Sir Walter Jenner who refurnished the interiors in period style.

At the same time the garden was laid out in a series of rooms with many contrasts, topiary, mixed borders, and a herbal border based on the famous 16th-century Lytes Herbal, which can be seen in the house.











Several walks through the wider estate show many features typical of farmed lowland England, including ancient hedges, rare arable weeds and farmland birds.

Lytes Cary Garden -
Photo: Barbara Voules CCL

Magnificent Elizabethan stone-built house, with fine collections, garden and park.

Built in the late 16th century for Sir Edward Phelips, Montacute glitters with many windows and is adorned with elegant chimneys, carved parapets and other Renaissance features, including contemporary plasterwork, chimneypieces and heraldic glass.

The splendid staterooms are full of fine 17th- and 18th-century furniture.

Montacute House -
Photo: Neil Kennedy CCL

St. Michael's Hill - Photo: Jim Champion CCL

Montacute House is a regional partner with the National Portrait Gallery and displays on permanent loan over 50 Tudor and Elizabethan portraits in the Long Gallery, the longest of its type in England.




There are also fine textiles, including 17th- and 18th-century samplers from the Goodhart Collection.




The formal garden includes mixed borders, old roses and interesting topiary and is surrounded by a landscape park.




The wider estate encompasses St Michael’s Hill, site of a Norman castle, topped with an accessible 18th-century lookout tower.