Stepleton House and Anderson Manor

Enjoy exclusive owner-guided tours of two of Dorset’s grandest Grade I houses tucked away in peaceful countryside, each with beautiful gardens.

Discover Stepleton House, a stunning property, surrounded by a Grade II listed 270-acre park, originally built around a courtyard, and comprised of a six by five bay block, constructed of ashlar in two storeys plus basement and attics, with a hipped stone slate roof. The main house dates from the 17th century with 18th-century pavilions. The six-bay frontage has a two-bay pedimented centrepiece. The house was sold in 1745 to Julines Beckford who remodelled it and developed the grounds creating a lake by damming the River Iwerne. Former owners include his son Peter Beckford, who became the patron of the composer Muzio Clementi whom he discovered in Rome at the age of 14 and who lived at the house between 1766-73, his grandson George Pitt-Rivers and Sir William Pitt of Stratfield Saye. 

Later, explore Anderson Manor, a fine and stately building of faded red brick faced with stone, with high gables and towering chimneys, handsome stone mullioned windows and a general bearing of great dignity and charm. The village of Winterborne Anderson has long since vanished so part of the charm of the house is its isolation with just the 12th century church of St. Michael’s for company. The manor was built in 1622 for John Tregonwell of Milton Abbey. The house is partly Elizabethan with an E-shaped floor plan. The Manor descended in the family until 1910 although it was used as a farmhouse during part of the 19th century. During WWII the manor was requisitioned and became the planning centre for Operation Pinprick. The historic formal gardens contain mature box and yew and other features including a pleached lime walk and a rose garden by the River Winterborne.

Header image: © Mike Searle / Stepleton House/ CC BY-SA 2.0

Tickets £94 including a two-course pub lunch at the World's End Inn. Lunch options to be made available to attendees in May 2026