What’s New at Smedmore House: Accommodation for rent, Dorset

Talk by Dr Philip Mansel, owner of Smedmore House

JUST LAUNCHED – Penthouse Suite: Accommodation for rent Dorset

The long awaited Penthouse or Bridal Suite at Smedmore House – accommodation for rent Dorset – the perfectly situated Dorset country house and wedding venue has finally been finished.  This wonderful, spacious rooftop bedroom has far reaching views over the rolling hills of Dorset and offers the opportunity for great privacy.   It has its own luxurious bathroom with roll top bath and marble floor.

Here are a few photographs of the finished bedroom and bathroom.

This takes the total capacity at Smedmore House, accommodation for rent Dorset, up to 24.

The Etches Collection Museum in Kimmeridge Village have launched a free Youtube channel with new videos about different aspects of Jurassic marine life each week. Check it out here.

New Book about Smedmore House- accommodation for rent, Dorset

Smedmore House is featured in a new book by architectural historian Jeremy Musson and photographer Hugo Rittson Thomas entitled “Romantics and Classics.”

Dining Room Redecoration at Smedmore House- accommodation for rent, Dorset.

Smedmore House is delighted to unveil the first images of the newly decorated Dining Room. During the closure of the house in January & February, a team of master craftsmen have been working on the Dining Room. They have picked out the intricate details of the plasterwork and panelling to give a truly wonderful result.

Dining Room at Smedmore House
Bay window at Smedmore House after redecoration March 2020

The Boathouse at Kimmeridge Bay:  For a small extra charge, Smedmore House guests will also be able to rent a boathouse (big beach hut) on the water’s edge at Kimmeridge Bay as their base for all beach activities.

 

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Chamber Music at Smedmore House: accommodation for rent Dorset

On October 14th 2018, as part of Chamber Music in Purbeck Houses, 3 new pieces of music were premiered at Smedmore House in a concert given by Miranda Fulleylove (violin), Lucy Schauffer (mezzo soprano), Clara Bliss (viola) and Zoe Martlew (cello).

All 3 composers – Zoe Martlew, Lynne Plowman and Julian Grant were present to introduce their works. 

  1. Voluspa: a short piece for String Trio by Zoe Martlew: inspired by Dorset
  2. Out in the Cold- a short work for mezzo soprano and string trio by Julian Grant: on the theme of abandoned children.
  3. Women Dreaming of Escape: for mezzo soprano and string trio by Lynne Plowman: inspired by painting by Jean Miro.
Smedmore House manor accommodation for rent in Dorset
Miranda Fulleylove and friends rehearsing at Smedmore House

Sunday February 4th 2018Kimmeridge will star on BBC Countryfile’s Winter special this Sunday at 6.30pm on BBC1.  The programme will feature James Warren of the Salt Pig in Wareham (former Kimmeridge resident) and Nick Ford, the Kimmeridge fisherman.  View details of programme

Early January 2018:  Kimmeridge’s Clavell Tower is named the most popular holiday home in Britain.

It’s booked solidly until July 2019 with an 18 month waiting list.   The story was covered in several newspapers and magazines including the Sun. 

Cosmopolitan – The Sun – Countryliving

IDEA: If you can’t wait that long for those wonderful views of the Kimmeridge shore line, why not consider renting Smedmore House for a weekend or longer?

8th October 2017 – Kimmeridge Bay star of Channel 4 at 9pm !

Filming for the episode of Electric Dreams took place in Kimmeridge over two days in April.

Fans of the Channel 4 show will recognise Kimmeridge Bay and the well-known landmark Clavell Tower in this Sunday’s episode: Crazy Diamond – the fourth in the 10-part series based on the short stories of Philip K Dick.

https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/15573431.beauty-spot-set-to-star-in-sci-fi-series/

23rd September 2017

The Guardian names Kimmeridge among Top 10 autumn weekend breaks in British countryside

Kimmeridger Bay near Smedmore House. Accommodation for rent dorset.
Sunset on Kimmeridge Bay. Photograph: Alamy

Come over the ridge and there it is, the gleaming, heart-lifting sea. Then a thin swoop of road descends from the chalk downs to the terrace of rough grass, and the rocky beach curving in a smile. Everything about Kimmeridge is quiet and great. The sea meets the land as it must have done for centuries. Most people potter on the beach, or climb the cliffs and follow the coastal path to the Clavell Tower, a 19th-century wedding cake of a folly.

I walk east around the bend, and pick over rocks to some lovely flat pavements that run into the shallow sea. Cut by crisscrossing straight lines, the rocks are mysterious and beautiful, and behind them dark cliffs rise in layers of shale and mudstone, containing untold creatures trapped millions of years ago. Walk along for a while. A raven croaks, a kestrel keens. Every so often the cliffs release a shower of shale, which lands on the rocks with a light pattering that mixes with the shush of the waves.

museum of jurassic marine life near smedmore house
Museum of Jurassic Marine Life

A mile away in Kimmeridge village, Clavell’s sells light lunches and cream teas, and across the road the new Museum of Jurassic Marine Life displays the finds of a local plumber, Steve Etches, who has devoted much of his life to fossil-collecting in Kimmeridge Bay. The specimens on show are astonishing, not least for their ferocious dentistry; pair after pair of serrated jaws frozen in a last gape.

Back by the sea, on a quiet autumn afternoon, nothing much is happening. The ancient rocks are warm in the sunlight. Little anemones shine like half-sucked boiled sweets, and bouquets of bladderwrack sway with the waves. I sink into a daze. Two paddleboarders glide past, while far at sea is the mirage of a huge ferry. A thin dog splashes by and puts up several oystercatchers, which fly off with loud peeps over the bright water.

Open Day May Bank Holiday Weekend 2017

[KGVID width=”640″ height=”360″]https://smedmorehouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Smedmore-video.mov[/KGVID]Watch a video made at the most recent Open Day showing the guides in action and many of the interesting rooms at Smedmore House.

20th October 2016

The Etches Collection Museum of Jurassic Marine Life opens in Kimmeridge this weekend.  The museum, funded in part by the Heritage Lottery Fund, is built on land given by the Smedmore Estate which also waived all claims to fossils found on the estate.  It shows the collection of fossils amassed locally by Steve Etches a village resident.

Read it here