The hamlet of Symondsbury, about half a mile from the main A35 coast road, consists mainly of traditional stone buildings and nestles in the gently rolling hills of West Dorset.
The Old Rectory is in the centre of the hamlet at the foot of the landmark of Colmer's Hill and near the fine Church. It is the principal house of the village, one of the largest rectories in England, and provided a very prosperous living for the original rector, who had an extensive wine cellar, and many servants and carriages. Thomas Hardy and William Barnes were regular visitors to Symondsbury, as was Mick Jagger and Jack Straw, the current Foreign Secretary, in more recent times.
Many of the cottages and houses are made of cob, a kind of yellow clay that is plastered on the outside to keep the houses warm and has lasted over the centuries. The roofs are of thatch.
A stream wanders through the village coming from a spring that is believed to have healing properties and people from miles around used to come to bathe their eyes and were usually healed. An old road leads from the sea through the village, that used to take pilgrims to the shrine of St. Whit at Whitchurch Canonicorum and this ancient track as well as several other walks reveal the ancient face of the Dorset countryside.
The area became the setting for the famous 1945 thriller Rogue Male by Geoffrey Household, and many of the places mentioned in this man-hunt can still be found today by enterprising explorers.
The 16th century Ilchester Arms, a good pub, is about 100 yards down the road from the Old Rectory. The bustling coastal market town of Bridport is one and a half miles away and its port of West Bay a similar distance again to the south. Apart from the two busy market days of Wednesday and Saturday in Bridport there are more local activities for the most demanding activist than can possibly be crammed into one weekend. Symondsbury is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and one and a half miles from the Jurassic Coast, now designated as a World Heritage Site.