Kingston Lacy

Kingston Lacy stands near Wimborne Minster in Dorset as a grand country house and estate. The rectangular brick building with stone dressings was designed by Sir Roger Pratt and completed in 1665 for Ralph Bankes. It replaced an earlier medieval hunting lodge used by royal favourites including the de Lacys and Lady Margaret Beaufort. The estate once formed part of a royal manor before passing through different owners in the 17th century. The house survived the turbulent 17th century when the Bankes family lost their nearby Corfe Castle during the Civil War. Ralph Bankes built this new home after the Restoration, modelling it on Clarendon House. Later generations expanded the estate and enriched it with collections of art and antiquities. The National Trust now owns the house and gardens, which are recognised for their historic importance. Inside, visitors find symmetrical apartments arranged around a central hall. The grand staircase and servants’ stairs flank the main axis, with identical rooms on each floor. Outside, a tall chimney rises at each corner and a Philae obelisk stands prominently. Beech avenues planted in the 19th century lead through the parkland, which was reshaped from former farmland. The grounds include specimen trees from the original planting and a church built in 1907.