Chettle

A picturesque village with a charming manor house, Chettle House, designed by Thomas Archer in the English baroque style and completed in 1720. Archer’s work includes the north front of Chatsworth in Derbyshire and the Church of St John in Smith Square, London, and his buildings are typified by lavish curves, inverted scrolls and their large scale, a style that owed much to the Italian architects Bernini and Borromini. Chettle House was bought in 1846 by the Castleman family who added an ornate ceiling. The house contains portraits of the Chafin family, earlier owners, and the beautifully laid out gardens include herbaceous border, a rose garden and croquet lawn. The house has also been used as a film and TV location. Chettle House and Gardens are open on Easter Sunday, and then on the first and second Sunday of each month, April–October, from 11.00am–5.00pm. There are tea rooms in the basement of the house.