Pylewell Park

About the venue

Seventeenth-century country house on the Solent near Lymington, hired on an exclusive basis with private beach access and views to the Isle of Wight. Ceremonies take place under a sail structure or in the Colefax and Fowler drawing room, and the Pavilion seats 200. Weekend weddings include 13 bedrooms for 26 guests.

A plaque in the hall at Pylewell Park records that the top floor became a hospital for frontline officers in the First World War, many of them gassed. In the Second World War the estate was requisitioned for military use. Two wings were knocked down in 1951, including a ballroom that once held the house's dances. The wedding Pavilion stands where that ballroom used to be.

The Worsleys, whose seat was Appuldurcombe on the Isle of Wight, had built a house here by 1677. Joseph Weld bought Pylewell in 1801 and was one of the founders of the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes. His yacht Alarm sailed in the race that gave the America's Cup its name. William Ingham Whitaker bought the estate in 1879. His son planted rhododendrons along the lake and brought bridges back from Japan. Lord Teynham inherited in 1988, and many of the Roper-Curzon family still live on the estate.

The house is hired on an exclusive basis, and there are no set packages. Ceremonies take place under a waterproof sail structure looking down to the Solent, licensed between April and September. Inside, the drawing room holds 130 for a ceremony and the dining room another 50. The drawing room is one of several reception rooms first designed by Colefax and Fowler. The Pavilion has a glass front, a built-in bar and a kitchen, and seats 200 for dinner.

Weekend weddings include two nights in the house, with 13 bedrooms for 26 guests, and couples can set up in the Pavilion from 11am the day before. St Mary's Church stands just past the end of the drive. For companies, the drawing room takes 90 theatre-style and the Pavilion 150. The grounds have a private beach for paddleboarding and sailing, and parkland with parking for 10,000 cars for outdoor events.

17th-century house on the Solent near Lymington

Exclusive use, no set packages

Sail-covered outdoor ceremonies, April to September

Drawing room licensed for 130

Pavilion: 200 for dinner, 150 theatre

13 bedrooms sleeping 26, plus a penthouse

Private beach access and Isle of Wight views

Weekend weddings from £19,750 (2028)