Wolfeton Riding House Trust

Wolfeton Riding House, hidden in the depths of Thomas Hardy's West Dorset, is a building of national architectural importance. It is the earliest surviving Riding House in England and dates from early 17th Century.

The Riding House at St. James's Palace in London built soon after for Henry, Prince of Wales, son of King James I, was very similar but has not survived. Of the six English Riding Houses, only the later ones at Welbeck Abbey and Bolsover Castle also still exist, the former being almost unrecognisable, the latter now being in the care of English Heritage.

Riding Houses were centres of the equestrian tradition of haute école, the precision schooling of horses similar to that still demonstrated today by the famous Lipizzaner horses of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna, Austria. The buildings served as arenas where skills were learned and demonstrated.

The Trust was established in 1997 with the aim of repairing and conserving Wolfeton Riding House for the benefit of the public.