Mr & Mrs Smith

Cranborne Chase is a land of shooting, fishing, rambling and golfing – the staff at the Bull will gladly point you in the right direction for the former; Remedy Oak Golf Course (remedyoak.com) is a good option for the latter. Not far from the hotel, beside the road towards Wimborne, is Knowlton, a ruined Norman church set in the centre of a megalithic henge. Don’t miss the votive ribbons tied to the pair of yew trees at the far side – paganism is still very much alive in these parts. If you’ve tykes in tow, head over to Honeybrook Farm and Country Park (www.honeybrook.org), where little Smiths can take tractor tours and picnic with the pigs. There are plenty of country towns to explore, including Salisbury, 20 minutes away, which is home to a spectacular cathedral (www.salisburycathedral.org.uk) and a copy of the Magna Carta. The New Forest, with its network of scenic, horse-lined highways, is a half-hour drive.

There’s nowhere else to eat in Wimborne St Giles – all other restaurants are a few miles’ drive. Greenhouse, 20 minutes away at Hotel Grosvenor in Shaftesbury (+44 (0)1747 8505800), is cheffed by Mark Treasure, no stranger to the Michelin Star, who masterminds a small but finely finessed menu in the hotel’s elegant dining room. The Bull’s chef is an alumnus of The Museum Inn in nearby Farnham (+44 (0)1725 516261); this cosy country gastropub is a haunt of Dorset-bound A–C-listers and serves fine ales alongside a glorious gamey menu. 15 minutes from the Bull Inn, The Castleman Hotel in Chettle may be the country’s last bastion of decent, old-school country-hotel dining(+44 (0)1258 830096; www.castlemanhotel.co.uk). It’s an endearingly rough-around-the-edges Queen Anne dower house, which deliberately eschews modern trends (culinary or aesthetic) in favour of reliable, great-value and often spectacular cooking. There’s apparently a ghost in residence, too. The King John Inn at Tollard Royal is a splendid spot for Sunday lunch (+44 (0)1725 516 207; www.kingjohninn.com).

10 minutes away, in the walled gardens of the eponymous estate, Cranborne Manor Garden Centre (+44 (0)1725 517248 www.cranborne.co.uk) has a charming little tearoom, which makes the most of the estate’s produce in its lunch dishes. The Potting Shed Café in Pythouse Farm, at the heart of Cranborne Chase is open for coffee, lunch, afternoon tea, and, if you book ahead, dinner on Thursday evenings (+44 (0)1747 870444; www.pythousefarm.co.uk). Fruit and veg all come from the Victorian kitchen garden on site, and you can bring your own wine if you fancy a tipple.