If you've already visited Montacute House, Montacute Tower and Ham Hill and want to travel a bit further, here are some ideas; these and more are listed in the cracking South Somerset Tourist Information website. My notes on Montacute legends and the history of Montacute can be found in Montacute Snippets
Beaches:
Lyme Regis (26 miles, approx 50 minutes drive) -Lovely seaside town but gets very busy with tourists, several boats offer fishing trips from the Cobb
Charmouth (25 miles, approx 45 minutes drive) -A good place for fossil hunting and rock pooling along the pebble beach, with lovely walks up to Golden Cap and along the cliff tops
Towns:
Glastonbury (19 miles, approx 35 minutes drive) -Art and crystals - Glastonbury Abbey is seriously overpriced but don't miss the walk up to the Tor
Wells (27 miles, approx 40 minutes drive) -The smallest city in England, Wells Cathedral is worth a visit, the clock was originally made in 1392 (!!!) but the mechanism in now in the Science Museum
Dog-friendly places to go:
Ham Hill with the Prince of Wales pub has to come number one on the list but there's also loads of good walks including the Leland trail, the Parrett Trail (for a great video of the walk click here), the Liberty Trail and shorter circular walks. There are also many fab locations to visit (Montacute House parkland, Cadbury Castle, and many more).
National Trust Sites:
Tintinhull Garden (4 miles, approx 10 minutes drive)
The Treasurer's House at Martock (4 miles, approx 10 minutes drive)
Barrington Court (10 miles, approx 20 minutes drive)
Glastonbury Tor (17 miles, approx 30 minutes drive)
English Heritage Sites:
Muchelney Abbey (9 miles, approx 20 minutes drive)
Other Visitor attractions:
East Lambrook Gardens (7 miles, approx 15 minutes drive)
Fleet Air Arm Museum (10 miles, approx 15 minutes drive) -Aeroplanes and helicopters; including Concorde
Haynes Motor Museum (13 miles, approx 20 minutes drive) -Cars and motorbikes to admire
Wookey Hole (25 miles, approx 45 minutes drive) -Take the tour through the caves, enjoy a show, don't miss the mirror maze!
Cheddar Gorge (36 miles, approx 1 hour drive) -Explore the Gorge, and visit Gough's cave and Cox's cave
Supplies:
Locally-reared meat can be bought from Windmill farm in Montacute; available as fresh or frozen, they deliver locally or you can arrange to collect it from the farm.
There's a fab transport cafe, sells proper English breakfasts etc, just outside Montacute at Cartgate
Cider can be bought from Perry's (11 miles, approx 20 minutes drive) - open to visitors
Cider and Cider Brandy can also be bought from Burrow Hill (9 miles, approx 20 minutes drive) - open to visitors