It's a delightful spot to use as a base from which to visit the many historical cities and towns nearby such as Winchester (King Arthur's Round Table), Salisbury (Old Sarum, Salisbury Cathedral), Newbury (unique Watermill Theatre), Hungerford (antiques centre), Southampton (West Quay shopping and Southampton Docks), Portsmouth (HMS Victory and the Mary Rose), and Bath (Roman baths and great shopping) as well as the World Heritage site of Stonehenge, Avebury and Danebury Iron Age Hillfort. There is also an excellent Iron Age Museum in Andover displaying many of the iron-age finds from the Hillfort. The village of Highclere is nearby, with the stunning Highclere Castle (of Downton Abbey fame). Twenty minutes drive away is the gin distillery 'Bombay Saphire', providing gin tours, tasting and cocktails, as well as cocktail-making courses. The distillery is next door to the Watership Down pub (famous from the Richard Adam's book, 'Watership Down'), offering a lovely rural setting for a quiet drink and delicious meals. It's also close to Hardy's Cottage Garden Plants, one of the UK's leading plantsmen nurseries, with courses available in propagation and border planting as well as being stocked with over 1200 varieties of rare plants There are several excellent local pubs for food within 5 miles of the property, one of which is within easy walking distance. We are also very close to two super farm shops, offering a selection of locally produced, high quality meat and home-made produce, with sausage-making courses available.
