Dinton Park
Philipps House, Wiltshire. "...formerly Dinton House, was built in 1816 by William IV Wyndham (1769-1841) to the designs of Sir Jeffry Wyatville, replacing a 17th-century house. The house stands in formal gardens and parkland known as Dinton Park. In 1916 the estate was bought by Bertram Philipps, who renamed the house after himself." The house is not open to the public, but the parkland surrounding it is.
It took us quite a while to find Dinton Park yesterday, but when we did, our perseverance was rewarded by the sun coming out.
Max has his own country estate* for the morning. (*pheasants not included)
Philipps House was gifted to the National Trust in 1943, on the condition that they would let it to the YWCA for a peppercorn rent but, according to a slightly bitter article on Wikipedia, the YWCA were forced out in 1995 when the National Trust changed the lease so that all maintenance costs would fall on the YWCA. The house is now let to private tenants.
Also in the park, the old rectory, Hyde's House:
18th century. Not open to the public.
No 18th century park is complete without a lake.
Max had to stay on the lead while passing the lake and the Many Ducks of Temptation, but luckily there wasn't any livestock out in the park beside the house, and he could have a nice run.
***
I thought I was quite clever taking Max north into Wiltshire on my day off, as the guns were firing on the Army Ranges at home and he was too woeful to walk... Of course, I forgot that most of Salisbury Plain also belongs to the Army, and there were guns firing in the distance all the time we were at Dinton. Luckily they were far enough away and faint enough that Max wasn't too bothered by them.