WHERE: Mapperton House and Gardens, near Beaminster WHEN: This Elizabethan home, voted by Country Life as the nation’s finest manor home, is open from 2pm to 4.30pm every week day until August 8. Last admission is at 4pm. The gardens and All Saints Church are open daily except Saturday from 11am to 5pm until October 31.

DETAILS: Mapperton House was recently used as a main location for the upcoming film version of Far From the Madding Crowd, which is due to be released next May.

It is the home of the Earl and Countess of Sandwich and is set in a romantic valley garden deep into a lost Dorset combe among tumbling hills and unspoiled countryside.

COST: Admission is £6 to the gardens and £6 to the house for adults and £3 for each for under 18s.