Hinton St Mary is a small stone village in the Blackmore Vale, a mile or so north of Sturminster Newton, and the estate that surrounds it has been in the same family for more than four centuries. The River Stour runs along the bottom of the land, the fields lift away to the north, and the whole place has an unhurried, lived-in feel — there are holiday cottages, workspaces, a kitchen and a set of event stables on the estate, and the family still live and work here. What draws couples, though, is the Tithe Barn: a Grade II* listed medieval building whose wooden floor and soaring vaulted roof make an interior you really do not need to do very much to.
The barn is hired dry and exclusively for the weekend, which means the estate hands you the building, the licences, the parking and a kitchen for your caterers, and leaves the rest to you. That suits couples with a clear idea of what they want and a caterer they like; it is less suited to anyone hoping for an off-the-shelf package. Ceremonies can happen in the barn itself, outdoors beneath the trees, or up in the raised stone summerhouse in the walled garden, and St Peter’s church is a short walk down the lane if you would rather marry there. Numbers run to around 110 or 120 for dinner and rather more in the evening. The gardens are a proper pleasure in their own right, with a sunken water garden, a pleached avenue and a pond, and the walled garden takes a marquee or a tipi if you want to extend the day outdoors. On-site bedrooms sleep 10, with the Lodge, the Manor Stables and No. 18 taking the overflow.
Where the band plays
The barn has a stage area and a dancefloor, which is a considerable head start. A high vaulted roof and a hard floor make for a lively, resonant room, and that suits a band well — there is a natural lift to the sound that a good engineer will lean into rather than fight. Because you have the building from the day before, a band can arrive, set up and sound-check properly rather than squeezing it into the gap after the ceremony, and the same freedom lets you decide for yourself whether the stage goes at the gable end or along the side, depending on how the tables fall.
How the night unfolds
The barn is licensed to midnight, which gives the evening a satisfying shape: drinks in the gardens while the light is long, dinner in the barn, then the tables clear and the room turns over to the music for a good three or four hours. A live band’s two sets fit neatly into that with time either side for a DJ or a playlist. Parking is included and there is room to bring a van right up to the barn, and since the whole estate is yours for the weekend there is no one to disturb but the cows across the lane.
Bands available in Dorset and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Dorset.
- Dorset Wedding Bands
- Dorset Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in Dorset
- Wedding DJs in Dorset
- Corporate Entertainment in Dorset
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.