Minterne House & Gardens

Minterne House has many historical and cultural points of interest:

Home of the Churchill family until 1768 when they sold it to Admiral Robert Digby, the younger son of 7th Baron Digby of Sherborne Castle. Original Churchill tapestries by David Tenier III remain in the house.

While Sherborne Castle was having its grounds remodeled by Capability Brown, he was invited to Minterne and was instrumental in making suggestions for the layout of the magnificent Himalayan Gardens we see today.

Admiral Henry Digby inherited it on the death of his uncle. He play a key role in the Battle of Trafalgar and Minterne houses some wonderful paintings and records of his time as a Naval Officer.

His daughter, Jane Digby, is a fascinating historial figure who, after marrying the British politican the Earl of Ellenborough and bearing him two children, she ended her amazing life married to a Bedouin Sheik in Damascus, Syria. She died there is 1881. Her diaries are kept at Minterne and there are a large number of her watercolours of her time in Syria.

The original house was rebuilt in 1904-06, designed by Leonard Stokes, a business partner of Augustus Pugin and a President of the RIBA.

Pamela Digby Churchill Harrison was born and raised at Minterne until her marriage to Randolph Churchill, son of Sir Winston Churchill. She became American Ambassador to France in 1993.

The Digby family was involved in funding of expeditions to collect plants in the Himalayas. These were brought back to Minterne and used to create the magnificent Himalayan Garden. Plant collecting and propagation is still going on at Minterne.

Lord Henry Digby is the current custodian and with his wife Lady Sarah, runs Minterne as both a farm, busy venue and private home and offers a warm welcome to all visitors. There are 30 beds on the estate in various houses and cottages and 9 bedrooms in the house which are rented out for special events.