Yew Tree Cottage is located in the pictuesque village of Farnham in the the heart of Dorset's stunning Cranborne Chase.  The cottage was built around 1750 and has cob walls and a thatched roof.  It is our family retreat, but we are pleased to let it out as a holiday cottage.  There are countless activities and things to do in the nearby vicinity.  The village has an outstanding and well-known gastropub - the Museum Inn. 

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 Farnham was chronicled as the village of "Ferneham"  (meaning "meadow of ferns") in the Domesday Book of 1086.  The village consists of about 100 (mostly thatched) cottages.  Much of the surrounding area - including  some of Farnham itself - is owned by Rushmore estate, which was inherited by Lt Gen Augustus Pitt Rivers in 1880.  Pitt Rivers was a keen archaeologist and his collection of specimens was originally exhibited in the "Museum" in Farnham, before he subsequently founded the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.  The Museum in Farnham persists as the Museum Inn pub. 

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Pitt Rivers also established the Larmer Tree Gardens in 1880 for "public enlightenment and entertainment".  The gardens are beautiful and are open to the public from Easter to September, for a small fee.  Picnics are encouraged and in addition there is croquet equipment, deckchairs and many roaming peacock.  Weddings are frequently held at the gardens during the summer.  Larmer Tree Gardens hosts two large and popular music festivals:  the Larmer Tree Festival and the End of the Road Festival.  

 

Farnham is located within Cranborne Chase, which is an official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.  It is a raised chalk plateau encompassing ~300 square miles, which was an ancient royal hunting ground, enjoyed especially by King John (1166-1216). In addition to its diverse flora and fauna, it is also extremely rich in archaeological sites spanning neolithic, Bronze Age, Roman and Saxon periods.

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Beyond the Cranborne Chase, Stonehenge is about 25 minutes to the north, the Jurassic Coast - with its high chalk cliffs and plentiful fossils - is about 40 minutes to the south and the New Forest is 40 minutes southeast.  The Jubilee Trail, a 90 mile hiking route that offers stunning views as it winds through rural villages, passes a mile or two from Farnham.  The Saxon towns of Shaftesbury and Blandford Forum are about 15 minutes away, and Salisbury is about 25 minutes.