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Landscape gardening was a favoured mode of display among the grandest eighteenth-century landowners, and Stourhead , ten miles northwest of Shaftesbury, is one of the most accomplished survivors of the genre (April-Oct Mon-Wed, Sat & Sun noon-5.30pm or dusk; garden: daily 9am-7pm or dusk; GBP8.50; house only GBP4.80; garden only GBP4.80, GBP3.70 in winter; NT). The Stourton estate was bought in 1717 by Henry Hoare, who commissioned Colen Campbell to build a new villa in the Palladian style. Hoare's heir, another Henry, returned from his Grand Tour in 1741 with his head full of the paintings of Claude and Poussin, and determined to translate their images of well-ordered, wistful classicism into real life. He dammed the Stour to create a lake, then planted the terrain with blocks of trees, domed temples, stone bridges, grottoes and statues, all mirrored vividly in the water. In 1772 the folly of King Alfred's Tower (April-Oct Tues-Fri 2-5.30pm or dusk, Sat & Sun 11.30am-5.30pm or dusk; GBP1.60) was added and today affords fine views across the estate and into neighbouring counties. The house, in contrast, is fairly run-of-the-mill, though it has some good Chippendale furniture. A mile to the southeast, in the showpiece village of STOURTON , also now owned by the National Trust, the Spread Eagle Inn has five en-suite rooms available (tel 01747/840587; GBP70-90) with prices halving in winter - it's also a good place to have lunch .
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