Top 10 fortified houses

Corfe Castle has towered over a Dorset peninsula for 900 years; its stone walls seeing kings crowned, civil wars fought and saints made

Capel House, Badminton, Gloucestershire The home of Gerald Harford and Jane MacEwen

Belmont House, Kent The property of The Harris (Belmont) Trust

Wharram Percy is one of the best-preserved of Britain’s deserted settlements – yet, even after decades of academic study, it still feels like a hidden secret. First you must descend an ancient track d

West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire, part I The seat of Sir Edward Dashwood, Bt, and a property of the National Trust

Holwood House, Keston, near Sevenoaks, Kent. A Grade I-listed country house, once home to William Pitt the Younger, with a folly and a garden pavilion. It has domed ceilings and retains its original f