Dorset cottages and self catering, South West England

Marshwood Manor Cottages - The Forge, Lyme Regis, Dorset, South West England

Sleeps 8
Weekly price range £1300 to £

Self catering accommodation in Lyme Regis sleeps 8.

Features include: • Pool • Short Breaks • Pets allowed • Golf nearby • Games Room • Easy Walking • Sleeps 8

Accommodation overview: A delightful base for your holiday, set in glorious countryside close to unspoilt beaches.

Marshwood Manor offers excellent accommodation and facilities in a tranquil rural setting, surrounded by Dorset’s loveliest countryside, and only 5 miles from the unspoilt beaches and golden sandstone cliffs of the coastline. The estate’s 10 acres of lawn, garden, pasture and woodland offer plenty of room for adults to stroll and children to play.
The properties have been carefully formed from a fine original range of buildings next to the manor house.and may be booked together to accommodate larger groups holidaying together (property refs DEY, DFA, DEX, DUS, DUT, DWS) Previously filmed for BBC television, all retain character and charm, whilst offering comfortable holiday accommodation fitted to a high standard throughout. Each has its own garden with furniture, and all enjoy shared use of the extensive gardens and grounds – as well as a range of facilities, including use of the owners’ small outdoor heated swimming pool (1st May - 30th Sept) set in a walled garden. There is a large games barn with pool table and table tennis, and a children’s play area with swings and slide. Approached along a private drive and set well back from the road, the cottages are perfectly positioned for enjoying this delightful corner of Dorset.
There are a variety of beautiful beaches, both sand and pebble, within a five to ten mile radius, including those at Lyme Regis, Charmouth, Seatown, Eype, West Bay and Burton Bradstock. Fossil-rich cliffs define this dramatic stretch of coastline, which encompasses the 2,000-acre National Trust estate of Golden Cap. This is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and superb walking country, both on the rolling chalk hills overlooking fertile inland valleys and on the coastal footpaths offering spectacular clifftop views. It is also an area full of romance and history, with three ancient hill forts and the house and gardens of Forde Abbey all nearby.
A range of attractions is on offer in nearby country towns. Lyme Regis is a pretty seaside resort, its elegant colour-washed buildings and promenade lining a handsome harbour. Motor boats can be hired and there are fishing trips, a sailing school, and a windsurfing school. Bridport is a thriving market town, featured on TV’s River Cottage, the Port Bredy of Hardy’s novels, offering a good choice of shops, inns, restaurants, an arts centre and a sports centre with indoor pool. The coastline is excellent for sea fishing and inland waters offer good coarse fishing. Golfers will find courses at Lyme Regis and West Bay. Guests can enjoy art classes with a trained instructor in our own studio (subject to an additional charge, availability and prior booking). There are also riding stables in the area. Caterers are available locally. The local shop at Marshwood and two charming thatched country pubs are within a short drive. Shops 2 miles.

Doles Ash Farm - The Stable, Piddletrenthide, Dorset, South West England

Sleeps 6
Weekly price range £900 to £1299

Self catering accommodation in Piddletrenthide sleeps 6.

Features include: • Pool • Short Breaks • Pets allowed • Games Room • Sleeps 6

Accommodation overview: The places Hardy roamed as a boy, and later enshrined as rustic Wessex . . .

Lying in the picturesque Piddle Valley in West Dorset are the twelve acres of glorious rolling countryside in which these holiday cottages are set. No longer a working farm, Doles Ash Farm now has an established vineyard producing English wines. The splendid range of barns here have been sympathetically converted to form a group of very comfortable cottages, interestingly clustered around a grass courtyard with the owners’ 18th-century house. Facilities include an indoor heated swimming pool, sauna, games barn with table tennis, snooker and table football, and tennis court. An alternative property in Piddletrenthide village (1 mile) is The School House (ref DRV) which can have the use of the leisure facilities at Doles Ash Farm. Outside, there is a pond, vineyard, sheep and chickens to visit and plenty of space for walking, playing, exploring and relaxing in the shared grounds.
Doles Ash Farm is the ideal venue for group get togethers, giving guests the benefit of families and friends being in the same place while still enjoying some personal space in individual cottages. Four of the holiday cottages have enclosed gardens, ideal for dogs, with the remaining four having individual patios. The indoor heated swimming pool is open daily all year round and the building has full changing facilities, as well as a coin-operated sauna. The tennis court is also available all year round. The cottages, facilities and grounds enjoy an outstandingly peaceful setting with magnificent walks on the doorstep. Riding, golf, clay-shooting and fishing are all available locally.
Good shops can be found 8 miles away in Dorchester and 10 miles away in Sherborne. There is a host of local attractions and a long sandy beach within a half hour’s drive at Weymouth. Studland beaches and Swanage are also firm favourites with visitors.
The Piddle Valley is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which boasts some of the prettiest villages in England and has a wealth of excellent family-friendly pubs to dine and relax in with the village of Godmanstone boasting the smallest pub in England. The beautiful village of Cerne Abbas, overseen by the legendary Cerne Giant, also lies just 3 miles from Doles Ash Farm. This is Thomas Hardy country with many of Hardy’s venues have changed little since his time. At Higher Bockhampton, standing among soaring beech trees, is the thatched cottage where the novelist was born.
Lovely cottages in a fabulous setting, what more could holidaymakers want. Shops 1 mile.

The Kite, Sturminster Newton, Dorset, South West England

Sleeps 4
Weekly price range £358 to £692

Self catering accommodation in Sturminster Newton sleeps 4.

Features include: Short Breaks • Multi bathrooms • Non smoking Open Fire or Wood Burner Stove Pets allowed sleeps 6

Accommodation overview: In beautiful open countryside and boasting its own large garden this spacious newly converted and tastefully decorated cottage is one of three set midway between Blandford Forum (10 miles) and Shaftesbury. Many National Trust properties – including Stourhead House and Gardens – Haynes Motor Museum the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton Monkey World Longleat Safari Park and the Jurassic Coast are easily accessible. Golf fine walking fishing and riding nearby. Sturminster Newton shops and pubs about 2 miles.

Entrance hall. Spacious sitting room with wood burning stove dining area and sofa bed (for + 2). Modern well equipped kitchen. Utility room with door to patio. Cloakroom/W.C. First floor: Double bedroom with ensuite bathroom/W.C. Twin bedded room. Shower room/W.C.

Phone enquiries: 0844 847 1143

Greenwood Grange Cottages - Weatherbury, Higher Bockhampton, Dorset, South West England

Sleeps 4
Weekly price range £900 to £1299

Self catering accommodation in Higher Bockhampton sleeps 4.

Features include: • Pool • Short Breaks • Games Room • Sleeps 4

Accommodation overview: Greenwood Grange offers the ideal holiday combination - premium quality accommodation, fine facilities all within a family-run friendly and welcoming atmosphere, and it has achieved a Green Tourism Business Scheme Silver Award in 2009

Set at Higher Bockhampton (which is Hardy’s ‘Upper Mellstock’), Greenwood Grange is a secret hideaway set in its own 4 acres of peaceful grounds and landscaped gardens. All the cottages have undergone a major refurbishment and offer the very highest quality accommodation and facilities, with each cottage having its own individually styled interior using natural and recycled materials where possible.
As well as offering plenty of space for strolling and relaxing, there are two outside tennis courts, lawns for croquet and badminton, a children’s play area with swings and yurt (with toys and games) and a dogs’ exercise paddock, in addition to the newly established organic vegetable garden and pick your own fruit area, with free range chickens providing eggs, to be enjoyed by all the family. There is also a magnificent Roman-style indoor heated swimming pool (complete with mural!) with full changing facilities, a large sauna and sitting area.
At the entrance of Greenwood Grange is Thorncombe Wood - a wildlife sanctuary from which a nature trail leads through magnificent chestnuts, beeches and oaks, and through 70 acres of black heath, furze, birch, holly, heather and rhododendrons. This is just one of many walks directly from the door over some of the most beautiful countryside in Dorset, perfect for healthy walks for dog lovers and all the family. Greenwood Grange offers bicycles for hire and a drop-off and pick-up service by prior arrangement.
Those interested in the literary landscape can explore the locations of Hardy’s famous novels. Steeped in history, Greenwood Grange was built by Thomas Hardy’s father, whilst a short distance away is the thatched cottage where Hardy himself was born, built by his great-grandfather and little altered. At Lower Bockhampton, Hardy went to school and there is a lovely walk from there to the next village, Stinsford, where his heart is buried.
All around is a wealth of glorious National Trust countryside, pretty towns and villages as well as the beautiful coastline just 6 miles away. Excellent local village restaurants and pubs can be recommended. Kingston Maurward College with animal park, gardens, conference, function and education centre is within walking distance.
Dorchester (Roman Durnovaria and Hardy’s ‘Casterbridge’) is a pleasant walk away (2 miles) and a most attractive country town, with museums of the dinosaur and the military, swimming pool, golf (good golf can also be found at Weymouth and Charminster) and has plenty of good shops, restaurants and pubs. Also of interest is Prince Charles’s development at Poundbury, near Dorchester.
Weymouth is 8 miles with its Georgian seafront Blue Flag beach - ideal for castle building! It is overlooked by an elegant 3-mile level esplanade; there is swimming from the beach, and there are lots of traditional entertainments. Two nearby RSPB reserves are at Lodmoor and Radipole which has nature trails from which grebes, swans and warblers may be seen. Nearby Portland is set to hold Olympic sailing events in 2012.
The beach at Ringstead Bay (6 miles) is known for its geology, fossils and the vegetation and wildlife of its under cliff; nearby can be seen the outlines of a village abandoned in the Middle Ages.
The Dorset World Heritage Coastal Path offers magnificent views and surprising sights, such as the natural arch of Durdle Door, and the almost circular cove of Lulworth, about 7 miles away.
Further west dotted along the coastline towards West Bay and the market town of Bridport are the ‘chocolate box’ villages of Burton Bradstock and Abbotsbury (famous for its Swannery and gardens).
The area offers abundant river stretches for coarse or trout fishing, and ...

Orchard View, Buckland Newton, Dorset, South West England

Sleeps 4
Weekly price range £388 to £753

Self catering accommodation in Buckland Newton sleeps 4.

Features include: Short Breaks Non smoking • Detached • Open Fire or Wood Burner Stove • Easy Walk access Pets allowed sleeps 4

Accommodation overview: In an elevated setting affording the most wonderful panoramic views from almost every window this very comfortable single storey property makes an ideal base for exploring one of England's loveliest counties. Cerne Abbas with its famous chalk giant Sparkford Motor Museum the timeless thatched village of Milton Abbas and miles of golden sands along the Jurassic coast are just some of the attractions within easy reach. Excellent walking quad biking and fishing locally. Village shop and pub serving food 1½ miles.

Hall. Spacious sitting room with open fire and French doors to patio. Spacious well equipped kitchen with dining area. Utility room. Double bedroom. Twin bedded room. Bathroom/W.C.

Phone enquiries: 0844 847 1143

Fryermayne, Broadmayne, Dorset, South West England

Sleeps 10
Weekly price range £724 to £1646

Self catering accommodation in Broadmayne sleeps 10.

Features include: Short Breaks • Multi bathrooms • Non smoking Wheelchair access • Near the Beach • Close to the Sea Open Fire or Wood Burner Stove Pub near by sleeps 10

Accommodation overview: Amidst peace and rural seclusion yet only 4 miles from the county town of Dorchester this spacious and very comfortable house stands on the owners' 160 acre working farm. Converted from the former stables and adjoining two farm cottages it offers accommodation of a very high standard – a wonderfully relaxing base from which to explore Dorset's lovely Hardy country and nearby Jurassic coast an area of outstanding natural beauty. Broadmayne village (½ mile) boasts a pub and shop and Dorchester offers a myriad delights including four museums a Roman villa and Maiden Castle. The coast 3 miles has been awarded World Heritage status – an area extending from beyond Lyme Regis to Poole Harbour with glorious scenery walks and beaches as well as plenty of fossil hunting. Inland attractions as varied as the Cerne Abbas Giant and Bovington Tank Museum invite exploration a network of footpaths and bridleways starts from the door and bicycles are available (foc) for visitors' use. Golf fishing and riding are found nearby.

Sitting room with wood burner and French doors to patio. Spacious well equipped modern kitchen with dining area. Utility room. Twin bedded room with zip and link beds (double by arrangement). Shower room with flush to floor shower and grab rails/W.C. First floor: Spacious double bedroom with king size bed and ensuite bathroom/W.C (shower attachment). Second double bedroom with king size bed and ensuite shower room/W.C. Two twin bedded rooms one with zip and link beds (double by arrangement). Bathroom/W.C.

Phone enquiries: 0844 847 1143

Cider Cottages - Cider House, Hawkchurch, Dorset, South West England

Sleeps 6
Weekly price range £900 to £1299

Self catering accommodation in Hawkchurch sleeps 6.

Features include: • Short Breaks • Pub nearby • Sleeps 6

Accommodation overview: In a stunning location, at the head of a valley, with country views and only 5 miles from Lyme Regis and the famous World Heritage Jurassic Coast, these 15th-century Grade II listed, traditional stone built cottages make excellent holiday accommodation to relax and unwind in. With flagstone floors, beams and inglenook fireplace, this spacious period cottage is charming. Outside one can enjoy the picturesque views of fields and woodland, and children can play in the adventure playground and meet with the friendly ponies. This non-working farm is home to an abundance of wildlife including deer, badgers, foxes and many birds. There are many seaside resorts to visit: Charmouth, Eype, Beer, Seatown, Branscombe, Sidmouth, and many attractions to take in such as Forde Abbey and Gardens, Broadwindsor Craft Centre, Pecorama and much more, or maybe a jaunt into the cathedral city of Exeter. Shop and village pub 1 mile, country hotel/restaurant ½ mile.

The Smithy, Compton Abbas, Dorset, South West England

Sleeps 2
Weekly price range £271 to £523

Self catering accommodation in Compton Abbas sleeps 2.

Features include: Short Breaks Non smoking • Detached • Open Fire or Wood Burner Stove Pub near by sleeps 2

Accommodation overview: Ideally situated for exploring Hardy's Wessex and boasting wonderful walking from the doorstep these charming and comfortable cottages are perfect for a relaxing break. The Wheelwrights adjoins the owners' 18th century stone built home and both cottages share a very attractive courtyard setting beside the secluded village green and a mile from Fontmell Magna's shop and pub serving food. Delightful thatched and tiled cottages on Shaftesbury's famous Gold Hill are a mere 3 miles distant whilst Stourhead House and Garden the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton Haynes Motor Museum Longleat and Cranbourne Chase are among easily accessible attractions. Golf and riding are nearby.

Sitting/dining room with wood burning stove. Modern fitted kitchen. Bathroom/W.C. (shower attachment). First floor galleried double bedroom.

Phone enquiries: 0844 847 1143

Greenwood Grange Cottages - Coomb Barton, Dorchester, Dorset, South West England

Sleeps 8
Weekly price range £1300 to £

Self catering accommodation in Dorchester sleeps 8.

Features include: • Pool • Short Breaks • Games Room • Easy Walking • Sleeps 8

Accommodation overview: Greenwood Grange offers the ideal holiday combination - premium quality accommodation, fine facilities all within a family-run friendly and welcoming atmosphere, and it has achieved a Green Tourism Business Scheme Silver Award in 2009

Set at Higher Bockhampton (which is Hardy’s ‘Upper Mellstock’), Greenwood Grange is a secret hideaway set in its own 4 acres of peaceful grounds and landscaped gardens. All the cottages have undergone a major refurbishment and offer the very highest quality accommodation and facilities, with each cottage having its own individually styled interior using natural and recycled materials where possible.
As well as offering plenty of space for strolling and relaxing, there are two en-tous-cas tennis courts, lawns for croquet and badminton, a children’s play area with swings and yurt (with toys and games) and a dogs’ exercise paddock, in addition to the newly established organic vegetable garden and pick your own fruit area, with free range chickens providing eggs, to be enjoyed by all the family. There is also a magnificent Roman-style indoor heated swimming pool (complete with mural!) with full changing facilities, a large sauna and sitting area.
At the entrance of Greenwood Grange is Thorncombe Wood - a wildlife sanctuary from which a nature trail leads through magnificent chestnuts, beeches and oaks, and through 70 acres of black heath, furze, birch, holly, heather and rhododendrons. This is just one of many walks directly from the door over some of the most beautiful countryside in Dorset, perfect for healthy walks for dog lovers and all the family. Greenwood Grange offers bicycles for hire and a drop-off and pick-up service by prior arrangement.
Those interested in the literary landscape can explore the locations of Hardy’s famous novels. Steeped in history, Greenwood Grange was built by Thomas Hardy’s father, whilst a short distance away is the thatched cottage where Hardy himself was born, built by his great-grandfather and little altered. At Lower Bockhampton, Hardy went to school and there is a lovely walk from there to the next village, Stinsford, where his heart is buried.
All around is a wealth of glorious National Trust countryside, pretty towns and villages as well as the beautiful coastline just 6 miles away. Excellent local village restaurants and pubs can be recommended. Kingston Maurward College with animal park, gardens, conference, function and education centre is within walking distance.
Dorchester (Roman Durnovaria and Hardy’s ‘Casterbridge’) is a pleasant walk away (2 miles) and a most attractive country town, with museums of the dinosaur and the military, swimming pool, golf (good golf can also be found at Weymouth and Charminster) and has plenty of good shops, restaurants and pubs. Also of interest is Prince Charles’s development at Poundbury, near Dorchester.
Weymouth is 8 miles with its Georgian seafront Blue Flag beach - ideal for castle building! It is overlooked by an elegant 3-mile level esplanade; there is swimming from the beach, and there are lots of traditional entertainments. Two nearby RSPB reserves are at Lodmoor and Radipole which has nature trails from which grebes, swans and warblers may be seen. Nearby Portland is set to hold Olympic sailing events in 2012.
The beach at Ringstead Bay (6 miles) is known for its geology, fossils and the vegetation and wildlife of its undercliff; nearby can be seen the outlines of a village abandoned in the Middle Ages.
The Dorset World Heritage Coastal Path offers magnificent views and surprising sights, such as the natural arch of Durdle Door, and the almost circular cove of Lulworth, about 7 miles away.
Further west dotted along the coastline towards West Bay and the market town of Bridport are the ‘chocolate box’ villages of Burton Bradstock and Abbotsbury (famous for its swannery and gardens).
The area offers abundant river stretches for coarse or trout fishing, and ...

The Wheelwrights, Compton Abbas, Dorset, South West England

Sleeps 2
Weekly price range £256 to £523

Self catering accommodation in Compton Abbas sleeps 2.

Features include: Short Breaks Non smoking Open Fire or Wood Burner Stove Pub near by sleeps 2

Accommodation overview: Ideally situated for exploring Hardy's Wessex and boasting wonderful walking from the doorstep these charming and comfortable cottages are perfect for a relaxing break. The Wheelwrights adjoins the owners' 18th century stone built home and both cottages share a very attractive courtyard setting beside the secluded village green and a mile from Fontmell Magna's shop and pub serving food. Delightful thatched and tiled cottages on Shaftesbury's famous Gold Hill are a mere 3 miles distant whilst Stourhead House and Garden the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton Haynes Motor Museum Longleat and Cranbourne Chase are among easily accessible attractions. Golf and riding are nearby.

Open plan sitting/dining room with wood burning stove and kitchen area. Double bedroom. Dressing room. Bathroom/W.C. (shower attachment).

Phone enquiries: 0844 847 1143

Armswell House, Plush, Dorset, South West England

Sleeps 18
Weekly price range £1300 to £

Self catering accommodation in Plush sleeps 18.

Features include: Hot Tub • Open Fire or Woodburner Stove • Short Breaks • Pets allowed • Detached • Games Room • Garden • Sleeps 18

Accommodation overview: The places Hardy roamed as a boy, and later enshrined as rustic Wessex . . .

Lying in the picturesque Piddle Valley in West Dorset are the twelve acres of glorious rolling countryside in which these holiday cottages are set. No longer a working farm, Doles Ash Farm now has an established vineyard producing English wines. The splendid range of barns here have been sympathetically converted to form a group of very comfortable cottages, interestingly clustered around a grass courtyard with the owners’ 18th-century house. Facilities include an indoor heated swimming pool, sauna, games barn with table tennis, snooker and table football, and tennis court. An alternative property in Piddletrenthide village (1 mile) is The School House (ref DRV) which can have the use of the leisure facilities at Doles Ash Farm. Outside, there is a pond, vineyard, sheep and chickens to visit and plenty of space for walking, playing, exploring and relaxing in the shared grounds.
Doles Ash Farm is the ideal venue for group get togethers, giving guests the benefit of families and friends being in the same place while still enjoying some personal space in individual cottages. Four of the holiday cottages have enclosed gardens, ideal for dogs, with the remaining four having individual patios. The indoor heated swimming pool is open daily all year round and the building has full changing facilities, as well as a coin-operated sauna. The tennis court is also available all year round. The cottages, facilities and grounds enjoy an outstandingly peaceful setting with magnificent walks on the doorstep. Riding, golf, clay-shooting and fishing are all available locally.
Good shops can be found 8 miles away in Dorchester and 10 miles away in Sherborne. There is a host of local attractions and a long sandy beach within a half hour’s drive at Weymouth. Studland beaches and Swanage are also firm favourites with visitors.
The Piddle Valley is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which boasts some of the prettiest villages in England and has a wealth of excellent family-friendly pubs to dine and relax in with the village of Godmanstone boasting the smallest pub in England. The beautiful village of Cerne Abbas, overseen by the legendary Cerne Giant, also lies just 3 miles from Doles Ash Farm. This is Thomas Hardy country with many of Hardy’s venues have changed little since his time. At Higher Bockhampton, standing among soaring beech trees, is the thatched cottage where the novelist was born.
Lovely cottages in a fabulous setting, what more could holidaymakers want. Shops 1 mile.

Doles Ash Farm - Keepers Cottage, Piddletrenthide, Dorset, South West England

Sleeps 5
Weekly price range £900 to £1299

Self catering accommodation in Piddletrenthide sleeps 5.

Features include: • Pool • Short Breaks • Pets allowed • Games Room • Sleeps 5

Accommodation overview: The places Hardy roamed as a boy, and later enshrined as rustic Wessex . . .

Lying in the picturesque Piddle Valley in West Dorset are the twelve acres of glorious rolling countryside in which these holiday cottages are set. No longer a working farm, Doles Ash Farm now has an established vineyard producing English wines. The splendid range of barns here have been sympathetically converted to form a group of very comfortable cottages, interestingly clustered around a grass courtyard with the owners’ 18th-century house. Facilities include an indoor heated swimming pool, sauna, games barn with table tennis, snooker and table football, and tennis court. An alternative property in Piddletrenthide village (1 mile) is The School House (ref DRV) which can have the use of the leisure facilities at Doles Ash Farm. Outside, there is a pond, vineyard, sheep and chickens to visit and plenty of space for walking, playing, exploring and relaxing in the shared grounds.
Doles Ash Farm is the ideal venue for group get togethers, giving guests the benefit of families and friends being in the same place while still enjoying some personal space in individual cottages. Four of the holiday cottages have enclosed gardens, ideal for dogs, with the remaining four having individual patios. The indoor heated swimming pool is open daily all year round and the building has full changing facilities, as well as a coin-operated sauna. The tennis court is also available all year round. The cottages, facilities and grounds enjoy an outstandingly peaceful setting with magnificent walks on the doorstep. Riding, golf, clay-shooting and fishing are all available locally.
Good shops can be found 8 miles away in Dorchester and 10 miles away in Sherborne. There is a host of local attractions and a long sandy beach within a half hour’s drive at Weymouth. Studland beaches and Swanage are also firm favourites with visitors.
The Piddle Valley is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which boasts some of the prettiest villages in England and has a wealth of excellent family-friendly pubs to dine and relax in with the village of Godmanstone boasting the smallest pub in England. The beautiful village of Cerne Abbas, overseen by the legendary Cerne Giant, also lies just 3 miles from Doles Ash Farm. This is Thomas Hardy country with many of Hardy’s venues have changed little since his time. At Higher Bockhampton, standing among soaring beech trees, is the thatched cottage where the novelist was born.
Lovely cottages in a fabulous setting, what more could holidaymakers want. Shops 1 mile.