News from Athelhampton House & Gardens.

Fairly small and unnoticed, compared to the rainbow of the stained glass or the splendour of the roof, two Green Men sit above two doorways in the medieval Great Hall at Athelhampton House & Gardens. A Green Man in Athelhampton's Great Hall We're not sure how old these two particular "foliate faces" are: they may be contemporary with the rest of the 15th century screen they're attached too, or possibly they were added by Alfred Carte de Lafontaine, when he sourced the screen

The focal point when looking at the stained glass at Athelhampton House and Gardens is often the ape. He is eye-catching, after all, and in some ways mysterious. Visitors exploring this historic Tudor house and gardens in Dorset are often drawn to the heraldic details and centuries of history found throughout the house. We will never know whether the Martyn family, who he belonged to as a heraldic crest, owned a pet ape, or whether he is merely symbolic. And the motto is argu

At Athelhampton House & Gardens, visitors can explore more than 20 historic rooms filled with original Tudor features. Among the most striking are the stained glass windows, which bring colour, craftsmanship and centuries of family history vividly to life. Glass is integral to Athelhampton's history, and not just because of the windows that can still be seen today. Stained glass in the oriel window at Athelhampton Stained glass manufacture in England dates back to at least th

An exciting day at Athelhampton… In the early morning, before the house stirred and long before our visitors arrived, the medieval Great Hall echoed with industry. Three orange clad figures appeared, and piece by piece, a modern metal structure was erected, in sharp contrast with the ancient beams sheltering the hall. After careful planning and the necessary permissions, we are beginning a project that gently reverses a change made some three hundred years ago, allowing the h