Minterne House, at Minterne Magna near Dorchester, is a Dorset country house, the home of the Churchill and Digby families since 1620, that welcomes guests for private events and weddings but is not open to the public. Trafalgar Hall holds 100 seated or 140 standing, the Churchill Tapestry Dining Room seats 6 to 60, and civil ceremonies are licensed for up to 160 guests. Hirers can have the whole house and its bedrooms, with exclusive use of the Himalayan Gardens.
Seminars and company events
Minterne does not offer conference or meeting packages. It sells dinners, parties and celebrations of all sizes in its private rooms, which also suit a private company dinner or a drinks reception for a client group. Organisers can use the house exclusively, with bedrooms for guests, and the estate describes the rooms as conceived with entertaining in mind.
Weddings and receptions
The house is licensed for civil ceremonies for up to 160 guests, with a choice of indoor and outdoor ceremony locations. The wedding pages describe house weddings and marquee weddings, from an intimate celebration to a large event in a designed marquee overlooking the lakes and gardens. With exclusive use of the house and its gardens, couples have privacy from ceremony to evening.
A wedding guide, ceremony FAQs and accommodation information are linked from the site, and guests can stay in the house or in the estate's holiday accommodation.
Rooms and capacities
Trafalgar Hall: barrel-vaulted ceiling and floor-to-ceiling mullioned windows, 100 seated or 140 standing, for banquets, receptions and dances. Churchill Tapestry Dining Room: 18th-century tapestries, open fireplace and lake views, dinner parties of 6 to 60. Lady Digby's Garden Room: French windows onto the South Lawn, for drinks and afternoon tea. The Drawing Room: bay window and fire for drinks before and after dinner.
Accommodation
The house has beautifully appointed en-suite bedrooms for guests, and hirers may use the house and its bedrooms completely. The estate also offers holiday accommodation. The number of bedrooms is not stated on the pages provided.
Catering
The pages provided do not describe in-house catering; the private events page covers banquet dining, drinks receptions and dances, so ask whether a caterer is supplied or chosen by the client.
History and setting
Admiral Robert Digby bought the house and valley on a walk-in, walk-out basis, so the contents were kept. The estate is a tranquil Dorset valley with the Himalayan Gardens, a lake and a cutting garden, and the gardens are closed in winter until the snowdrops in February.
Getting there
The address is Minterne Estate, Minterne Magna, Dorchester DT2 7AU. The pages provided give no further transport details.
