Dyrham Park sits snug and secluded in the hollow of a Gloucestershire valley, an architecturally imposing house of golden-coloured stone sits surrounded by an ancient deer park. First indications are that this was a grand country home created for the enjoyment of the aristocracy in a bygone era. In fact, Dyrham Park was a family home built by William Blathwayt, a civil servant under James II, who later became William III's acting Secretary of State.

Clevedon Court was built by Sir John de Clevedon in c.1320, incorporating parts of a massive 13th-century tower and great hall. Much of the original building is still evident. Altered and added to by the Elizabethans, it has been home to the Elton family since 1709. The house contains many striking Eltonware pots and vases and a fascinating collection of Nailsea glass. There is also a beautiful terraced garden.

Lacock Abbey, Fox Talbot Museum & Village. The abbey was founded in 1232 and converted into a country house c1540, the fine medieval cloisters, sacristy, chapter house and monastic rooms of the Abbey have survived largely intact. The Museum of Photography commemorates the achievements of a former resident of the Abbey, William Fox Talbot (1800-77), inventor of the modern photographic negative and whose descendants gave the abbey and village to the National Trust in 1944. The village, which dates from the 13th Century and has many limewashed half-timbered and stone houses.

Prior Park Landscape Garden is a beautiful and intimate 18th century landscape garden created by Bath entrepreneur Ralph Allen with advice from poet Alexander Pope and Lancelot 'Capability' Brown. Sweeping valley with magnificent views over the city of Bath. Ornamental features such as a Palladian bridge, a sham bridge, and three lakes. Wonderful walks & summer picnic garden.

Tyntesfield is a magnificent Victorian country house near Bristol has survived with its historic contents, gardens, park and estate buildings intact. The conservation project is still in the early stages of development. Huge progress has been made in opening much, but not all of the property. Visitors will have the opportunity to see conservation and building work going on during open hours.

The Courts Garden is a charming English country garden. 7 acres of spacious lawns, clipped yew hedges and fine specimen trees form the basis of this delightful English-style garden. Created in the early 20th century, it remains a peaceful rural retreat infused with colourful blooms and topiary-framed vistas.

Chavenage House is reputedly Gloucestershire's second most haunted house. Built in Elizabethan times upon earlier monastic foundations, the mellow grey Cotswold stone walls of Chavenage have seen Civil War drama but now you can escape into the peaceful surroundings of a Cotswold manor, virtually unchanged for 400 years.

Berkeley Castle, built in 1117, has been home to 24 generations of the famous Berkeley family. This is a place of scandal and intrigue and provided the backdrop for the signing of the Magna Carta and Edward II's brutal murder in 1327. Besieged by Cromwell's troops in 1645, this Castle played an important part in the story of the Civil War.

Owlpen Manor is an impressive historic manor house (1450-1616) in a wooded valley, has a magnificent Tudor Great Hall, a Jacobean solar wing, a fine Cotswold Arts and Craft collection, and unique painted cloth wall-hangings in a room haunted by Queen Margaret of Anjou (who visited in 1471). The 16th Century formal terraced garden has fine yew topiary and box parterres. 15th Century barn now a licensed restaurant serving lunches and traditional cream teas.

Woodchester Mansion is an architectural masterpiece of the Victorian age abandoned by its builders before it could be completed. It has been virtually untouched by time since the mid-1870s, and today offers a unique opportunity to tour and explore a Gothic building in mid-assembly. The Mansion is hidden in a secluded 400-acre landscape park of great beauty, sheltering an abundance of wildlife and rare-breed grazing stock. Enchanting woodland walks snake around its five man-made lakes.

Westonbirt - The National Arboretum near Tetbury, with its 600 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds, is home to some of the world's tallest, oldest and rarest trees. Now managed by the Forestry Commission, Westonbirt is beautiful at any time of year. It has 17 miles of paths along which to stroll and it is famous for its autumn colour spectacular, when trees turn a brilliant red, orange or gold. Westonbirt is also well-known for its spring displays of rhododendrons and wild floral carpets.

Spetchley Park and Gardens - Just three miles east of the beautiful cathedral city of Worcester and surrounded by glorious countryside, lies one of Britain's best kept secrets. Virtually hidden from the road, and largely unaltered in the last century, this lovely 30 acre Victorian paradise, belonging to Mr. and Mrs. R.J.G. Berkeley, has been lovingly created by successive generations of the Berkeley family, and boasts an enviable collection of plant treasures from every corner of the globe.