Hooke Court

Between the Wessex Ridgeway and the Dorset coast, Hooke Court stands as a sprawling manor house with roots reaching back centuries. The moated grounds give way to a large garden with space to move, and the whole property is yours alone—11 bedrooms and 9 bathrooms across three floors, enough for 23 people. This is the sort of place built for gathering: a drawing room with an open fire, a dining room, a games room with table tennis, and a kitchen equipped with a Aga-style range for cooking on any scale. Bed linen and wifi are included; heating and electricity are covered October to April.

Bedrooms vary across the floors. Eight have ensuite bathrooms, most with baths and showers; the top floor rooms are simpler, with one shared bathroom serving three bedrooms. Single beds, double beds and bunks are distributed to suit different group compositions. The kitchen has what you need for self-catering—range cooker, dishwasher, fridge-freezers, microwave. Parking for 10 cars sits on site, and the moat itself becomes part of the landscape you move through.

The location pulls you toward the coast: Chesil Beach and the cliffs at Golden Cap are reachable, as is West Bay. Cerne Abbas lies nearby. Roman archaeology and older traces scatter the region. Smoking is not permitted. This is a property that works for extended family, groups of friends gathering for a long weekend, or organisations needing substantial space with character intact.