This red-brick, storybook tower and its luscious gardens could inspire romantic prose: which is well-suited to its origins as the pet project of Vita Sackville-West. Once a tumbling Saxon ruin, this famous author, poet and gardener rebuilt this Castle with her husband, pouring love into it as an ambitious horticultural project.

The result is the National Trust site you can visit today: complete with seasonal curated gardens and a vegetable patch. Linger through Vita’s old haunts in her tower writing-room and library, explore their second-hand bookshop, or grab a bite to eat at their Old Dairy Cafe.