Dorton House, Buckinghamshire

Dorton House is an English country house in Aylesbury Vale featuring a distinctive horseshoe-shaped layout built with bricks made from local clay sources. The complex now functions as Ashfold School for children aged 3 to 13 and displays characteristic Jacobean architectural elements.

The house was constructed between 1596 and 1626 under the ownership of Sir John Dormer, before passing to the Fletcher family in 1783. A datestone on the building indicates 1626, though some historians propose a later construction date based on architectural analysis.

The building served as an educational facility for the Royal London Society for the Blind from 1939 to 1955, marking a meaningful shift in how the space was used. This educational purpose continues to shape how people experience the place today.

Visitors can observe the exterior architecture and grounds of the house as it functions as a school campus for Ashfold School. Plan time to explore the facade and garden areas surrounding the building.

The building displays a datestone showing 1626 on its exterior soffit, yet historians Elizabeth Williamson and Nikolaus Pevsner propose a considerably later construction date based on architectural style. This mismatch between the visible date and scholarly analysis keeps the true building timeline intriguingly uncertain.