Information
In coming to West Dorset you are entering a world of unspoilt charm and outstanding natural beauty and there is something for everybody. You can explore the countryside at your own pace – the wide open spaces, rolling hills and spectacular scenery – or the coastal path where you will be rewarded with dramatic seascapes and stunning landscapes. Either will blow all those cobwebs away and you will see how therapeutic a change of pace can be!
Compton Valence is on the Macmillan Way, a named footpath from Boston in Lincolnshire to Abbotsbury in Dorset.
We are in between Dorchester and Bridport, only five miles from the Jurassic Coast and about half an hour south from Sherborne. All towns are packed full of history and charm, yet bustle with modern shops and vibrant culture. Once on the coast you find yourself in the middle of 25miles of magnificent World Heritage Coastline – and 200 million years of history. This is of course also Thomas Hardy country and so much hasn’t changed. Today West Dorset is rich with artistic wealth and diversity.
Compton Valence is tucked into a fold of the Dorset Downs, just a few miles from Eggardon Hill on the western edge of the great Wessex chalk excarpment. We have delicious water – first discovered by the Romans and from where Dorchester derived its water supply. On approaching the tiny hamlet which nestles in a hollow of the hills you will see many shrubs and flowers planted along the banks of the road – in spring, the banks are covered first with snowdrops and then with daffodils. The Church of St Thomas of Canterbury, parts of which date from the thirteenth century is on the other side of the village.
On arrival you will be met by two chocolate Labradors. Manor Farm is in the centre of a mixed 1,000 acre family owned farm. The house itself dates back to the mid 1800s. It is predominantly arable and sheep, with a number of let cottages around the hamlet.
Breakfast will be served in the dining room, while your cooked breakfast is prepared in the farmhouse kitchen in the aga. No cooking fats and as fresh as can be! We have wireless throughout the house, which is free for guests to use, if you cannot bear to be out of touch. Otherwise you can enjoy the forgotton noises of the English countryside – lambs and sheep in the fields, birds in the trees, and maybe some farmers working in the distance.
I hope you will respect our wish that we are a no smoking house.
We are rarely closed.
Tel. 01308 482227 Fax. 01308 482625