Henstridge

Henstridge is not a village of large hotels, and that is very much part of its appeal. Instead, visitors tend to base themselves in the small guesthouses, converted farmhouses and country B&Bs scattered through the Blackmore Vale, or head a short drive to Sherborne, Wincanton or Templecombe for a wider choice of rooms. Sherborne in particular offers characterful hotels and inns within its historic abbey town, many housed in honey-coloured stone buildings alongside independent shops and cafes, making it an easy base for day trips back out to Henstridge and its airfield. Wincanton, best known for its racecourse, has a similar spread of small hotels and pub accommodation geared toward visitors attending race meetings through the autumn and winter jump season.

Whichever base you choose, the appeal of staying near Henstridge lies in the surrounding countryside rather than the village itself: gentle walking routes across dairy pasture, quiet lanes for cycling, and the novelty of watching light aircraft rise from the old wartime airfield. Those wanting a rural retreat with easy access to Sherborne's historic core, Stourhead's landscaped gardens, or Wincanton's racing calendar will find Henstridge a well-placed, unhurried starting point, close enough to the A303 and A30 for easy onward travel but far enough from the crowds to feel genuinely restful.

Henstridge rewards slow exploration, and its position on the Somerset-Dorset border puts a surprising amount within easy striking distance.

• Henstridge Airfield — Watch light aircraft and gyrocopters come and go at this former Fleet Air Arm station, now a lively general aviation airfield with a clubhouse and flying school open to visitors.
• St Nicholas Church — The parish church has roots stretching back to the 12th century, though much of what stands today dates from an 1870s rebuild; look out for its quiet, well-kept churchyard.
• The Blackmore Vale — Henstridge sits within this broad, dairy-farmed valley immortalised by Thomas Hardy, and country lanes radiating from the village make for easy walking and cycling through classic Wessex scenery.
• Sherborne — Six miles south-west, this handsome Dorset abbey town has a working castle, a ruined Norman castle, and one of England's finest medieval abbeys.
• Wincanton — A short drive north brings you to this Somerset market town, home to a National Hunt racecourse that hosts jump racing through the autumn and winter.
• Stourhead — Further north again, the National Trust's landscaped gardens and Palladian mansion at Stourhead are among the most celebrated in England, especially colourful in spring and autumn.
• Templecombe — Just two miles away, this neighbouring village has its own mainline railway station on the London to Exeter line, useful for car-free visits.

The village and its surrounding hamlets hold a handful of well-regarded pubs. The Virginia Ash, on the edge of Henstridge, is a characterful old inn said to take its name from the legend that Sir Walter Raleigh first smoked tobacco brought back from Virginia nearby, and it offers a beer garden set among established trees and shrubs alongside a menu of pub classics. Further afield, the market towns of Wincanton and Sherborne add a broader spread of cafes, restaurants and traditional Somerset and Dorset pubs, many built around locally sourced produce from the dairy farms of the Blackmore Vale.

Henstridge and the surrounding Blackmore Vale offer a genuinely rural setting for a camping trip, all rolling dairy pasture, hedgerowed lanes and big Somerset skies, with the added novelty of light aircraft occasionally passing overhead from the historic airfield on the edge of the village. As with everywhere else in England, wild camping without the landowner's explicit permission is against the law, so pitching up on open farmland or roadside verges here is not an option; the good news is that the area has a fair spread of proper camping and caravan sites happy to welcome tents, touring caravans and motorhomes, several of them within a few minutes of Henstridge itself around Templecombe and further into rural south Somerset.

The terrain here is gentle rather than dramatic, low hills and wide, flat-bottomed valleys given over to dairy farming, so it suits campers after peace and quiet more than serious hill walking. Established sites typically offer grass touring pitches with electric hook-up, along with basic amenity blocks, and many are run as small family farms rather than big commercial parks, which keeps things low-key. For those who would rather skip the tent altogether, a growing number of glamping options in the wider Blackmore Vale area, from shepherd's huts to safari tents, provide a comfortable middle ground between hotel and campsite, often set on working farms where guests can watch the daily rhythms of rural Somerset up close.

Late spring to early autumn is the best window for camping around Henstridge, when the ground is driest and the long evenings make the most of the surrounding countryside; the Blackmore Vale's clay-heavy soil can turn heavy going after wet weather, so shoulder-season visitors should check conditions with the site beforehand. Whatever the season, the area's quiet lanes and easy proximity to Sherborne, Wincanton and the A303 make it a practical, unpretentious base for a Somerset-Dorset border camping trip.