Kingston Lacy - Italian Palace

Kingston Lacy is a country house and a park near Wimborne in Dorset, now owned by the National Trust . It was built by the Bankes family who had previously lived at Corfe Castle until its destruction in the Civil War. The House was intended to resemble an Italian Palace.

Kingston Lacy houses important collections of art and antiquities amassed over many years by the Bankes Family.

Not many stately homes can claim to have their very own Iron Age hill fort, but this Dorset dazzler does. The ancient fortification known as the Badbury Rings sits within Kingston Lacy’s grounds , along with Japanese-style teahouse, Victorian fernery, rose garden, water meadows , acres of woodland and even the remnants of a Roman road.

And then there is the house: built in the mid-1600s to resemble an Italian palazzo, it’s crammed with antiques, Egyptian artefacts and even a few Old Master paintings (including works by Rubens and Titan).

The house was originally owned by the Bankes family, who unfortunately backed the wrong side during the Civil War; their former home, Corfe Castle, was blasted to bits by roundhead forces, so they had to make do with this little country pad instead.