Dyrham Park

Dyrham Park is one of England's most complete and evocative late 17th-century baroque country houses, set within 263 acres of ancient deer park on the southern escarpment of the Cotswolds. Built between 1692 and 1704 for William Blathwayt, Secretary of State to King William III, the house was designed by French architect William Talman and constructed by the skilled local master mason Thomas Ridding. Its two contrasting facades — the formal baroque east front in English baroque style and the more intimate Dutch-influenced west front — reflect the dual architectural influences of the period.

The interiors are among the finest surviving William and Mary period rooms in England, filled with collections that reflect Blathwayt's close connections to the Dutch court of William III. Outstanding blue and white delftware ceramics are displayed throughout the state rooms, alongside magnificent Flemish tapestries, gilded leather wall-hangings from the Netherlands, and an exceptional collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings. The great staircase, the hall and the state bedroom all retain their late 17th-century furnishings with remarkable completeness.

The 263-acre deer park surrounding the house is home to an ancient herd of fallow deer that has grazed these grounds for centuries. The park is one of the most important surviving examples of a late medieval deer park in the south of England, retaining veteran trees of great age and ecological significance. Below the house, formal garden terraces and an orangery create a transition between architecture and landscape.

Dyrham Park achieved wider fame when it was used for exterior scenes depicting Pemberley in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, introducing the house to a new generation of admirers. The National Trust has cared for the property since 1956 and continues major restoration work on both the house and its collections.