Jul 13

Jul 13 58 Acre Estate in Dorset With One of England’s Finest Private Gardens

Country Living, Estate, Europe, For Sale, Historic, Market Watch

A Grade II-listed Jacobean Revival estate in Dorset has come to market for £9.95 million, listed with Bluebook Agency. Known as Chedington Court, the 19th-century country house spans nearly 28,000 square feet and sits on 58 acres of landscaped gardens, parkland, and woodland.

Chedington Court sits 602 feet above sea level in the hilltop village of Chedington, surrounded by protected National Trust land that ensures long-term privacy and unspoiled views across the Dorset Downs. According to listing agents Blue Book Agency, the estate includes a 28,000 sq ft Jacobean Revival main house with eight bedrooms, expansive entertaining spaces, and one of the finest private water gardens in England.

While records of a house in Chedington date as far back as 1285, the current estate was built around 1840 in dressed Hamstone ashlar for William Trevelyan Cox JP, a prominent landowner. It later passed to his son, Captain William Trevelyan Hody JP, before being acquired in 1893 by Sir Henry Peto, High Sheriff and Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset. Peto was the son of Sir Samuel Morton Peto, the Victorian railway magnate behind Nelson’s Column and much of London’s infrastructure. Sir Henry and Lady Peto extensively remodelled the house in the 1890s and commissioned the original design of the estate’s signature water garden, which still anchors the grounds today.

The current owners have overseen a comprehensive restoration, modernising the house while preserving its historic character. Smart systems now manage lighting, sound, security, and zoned heating, all controlled remotely via app. Fibre broadband runs throughout the house and gardens, and a solar-assisted ground-source heat pump supports the estate’s eco-conscious infrastructure.

Standout interior features include a double-height Great Hall with a green oak hammer-beam ceiling, a 20-seat formal dining room, and a cinema with custom Meridian sound system and acoustic insulation. The silk-lined principal suite includes dual bathrooms and hidden dressing rooms, while the spa wing features a steam room carved from a single 15-ton slab of marble and a chlorine-free indoor pool lined with Brazilian blue granite and local stone.

The gardens, originally laid out by Sir Henry Peto in the 1890s, remain a defining feature of the estate. Terraced lawns, gravel paths, and herbaceous borders lead to rare specimen trees—including a Japanese redwood believed to be the largest in Britain. The historic water garden, fed by the source of the River Parrett, includes mossy rockeries, azaleas, camellias, and a network of wooden bridges that wind through a shaded woodland landscape.

Additional buildings include a four-bedroom guest lodge with private terrace, a coach house with two large offices and four garages, and several ancillary outbuildings for staff, garden machinery, and greenhouse use. The estate lies within easy reach of the Jurassic Coast and offers direct rail access to London from Yeovil or Crewkerne, both just over two hours away.