Athelhampton
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Athelhampton is one of the finest 15th-century manor houses in England, and is set in superb gardens. It is a privately owned country house on 160 acres (647,000 m²) of parkland, located five miles (8 km) east of Dorchester, Dorset. The house is now open for public visits.
In 1086, the site was recorded in the Domesday Book which states that the Bishop of Salisbury, with Odbold as tenant, held the manor, then called Pidele. The name Aethelhelm appears in the 13th century, when Athelhampton belonged to the de Loundres family. In 1350 Richard Martyn married the de Pydele heiress, and their descendant Sir William Martyn, Lord Mayor of London in 1493, built the current Great Hall in or around 1485. He also received licence to enclose 160 acres (647,000 m²) of deer park and to fortify his manor.
A West Wing and Gatehouse were added in 1550, but in 1862 the Gatehouse was demolished. In 1891, the house was acquired by the antiquarian Alfred de Lafontaine, who carried out restoration to the interior and added the North Wing in 1920–21.
At the same time, de Lafontaine engaged Iniago Thomas to create one of England's great gardens as a series of "outdoor rooms" inspired by the Renaissance. Twenty acres (81,000 m²) of formal gardens are encircled by the River Piddle, and consist of eight walled gardens with numerous fountains and pavilions, plus a balustraded terrace, statues, obelisks and magnificent vistas through gate piers. Great Court contains 12 giant yew pyramids set around the pool by the great terrace. The lawn to the west has an early 16th-century circular dovecote, and the south terrace features a vast "Magnolia grandiflora" and a Banksian rose. Pear trees cover the old walls and support roses and clematis.
It has been owned by the Cooke family for three generations, and still is. It was used as a location for the 1972 film, Sleuth, when it was owned by Robert Cooke, MP.
[edit] External links
- Athelhampton (official website)
- Photo gallery of Athelhampton House
- "Marevna's Studio" at Athelhampton House where the Russian emigrée cubist painter Marie Vorobieff, known also as Marevna, stayed and worked between 1949-1957 [1] (opening to the public in March 2006).
