The Moot and Moot House, Downton
Open accessfree to visit at any reasonable time
If you fancy a garden with a bit of history baked into the ground itself, the Moot is worth the detour — an 18th-century pleasure garden laid over the earthworks of a Norman motte and bailey castle, with a pond and a curved loggia by the water. A preservation trust set up by local residents in 1987 keeps it free and open every day, dawn to dusk. It sits right by the River Avon at Downton, with Cranborne Chase’s chalk downs rising close to the west.
