THE beautiful garden of a historic home in west Dorset will be reopening to visitors from this Sunday.

Following an update to the Government guidance during COVID-19, the gardens and grounds of Mapperton House near Beaminster will be open from Sundays to Thursdays from 11am to 5pm.

Mapperton House, the family home of the Earl and Countess of Sandwich, and the Coach House Café will not be open, but anyone can join the free live stream house tours on Tuesdays at 4pm at mapperton.com/live The number of visitors to the garden will be restricted to a maximum of 30 per hour.

They will be are asked to maintain a minimum of 2m distance from other groups. Hand sanitisers will be available and a range of other measures will be in place to enable social distancing.

The route is not wheelchair accessible. Tickets must be purchased online in advance at mapperton.com and will be for a specified time-slot.

Luke Montagu, Viscount Hinchingbrooke, said: “In common with other historic houses this year, Mapperton has lost all visitor income which normally supports the significant cost of running and maintaining the house and gardens.

"We are also sorry that visitors have been unable to enjoy the gardens as they have blossomed through the spring. “However thanks to the hard work of our gardening team the gardens are looking wonderful and should provide a haven of calm and beauty during this challenging period.

“We have made some changes to ensure the safety of our visitors and our staff and we are very much looking forward to welcoming people back to the gardens.”