News from Athelhampton House & Gardens.

Most visitors to the Little Library at Athelhampton House & Gardens these days haven’t heard of Percy F. Westerman, and don't know why so many of his books sit on the shelves in this room. A prolific writer of boys adventure stories through the first half of the 20th Century, Westerman averaged 3.6 books a year over the course of 50 years. He spent much of his life living in a houseboat in Wareham, not far from Athelhampton. Percy F. Westerman, from a British Pathe film His w

There's plenty of stained glass at Athelhampton House & Gardens, and much of it is originally medieval, or 16th Century. It's possible with almost all of it to identify the family it's connected to, and how they were connected to Athelhampton and the Martyn family, thanks to the coats of arms or crests shown. The Kelway coat of arms in the window in the Great Chamber at Athelhampton House In the Green Dining Room, though, we have a bit of a mystery. A fragment of stained glas

When you visit us, it's always worth looking closer at the small details. The outside roses at Athelhampton House & Gardens bloom beautifully through the summer, but inside the house, there are roses blooming all year round. Library Rose In the library, a small rose peeps down from the top of the panelling, almost hidden amongst the carvings covering the walls. King's Room Rose In the Kings Room, a gilded rose decorates part of the fireplace, this time with the more usual fiv

The news this week has been all over the fact that Nigel Farage is wanting to resign as an MP, is resigning as MP, and has resigned as MP, so that he can trigger a by-election. The issue with all of these headlines is that it's not actually permitted for MPs to resign from their posts. And the other obvious question you may have is "What does any of this have to do with Athelhampton House & Gardens?" Back in the 1620s, being an MP wasn't very desirable. While Parliament wasn'

One of the pieces of furniture that we often get questions about at Athelhampton House & Gardens is the stone sink in the scullery, just beyond the kitchen. At first glance, this shallow block of stone is apparently pointless: how are you meant to fill it with water and use it for washing up?! The reality is that, while it is a sink, it wasn't originally intended to be anything like the kitchen sinks that we're used to today. Historically, it wouldn't have been used with a wa

Visiting places like Athelhampton House & Gardens or Max Gate can be a wonderful way of seeing how fashions and tastes in domestic spaces have evolved over time. On a recent visit to Max Gate, we spotted all sorts of late Victorian things that make a nice comparison to things you can see at Athelhampton, both older and more modern. Max Gate, home of author Thomas Hardy, regular visitor to Athelhampton House In the dining-rooms, we're both late-Victorian but with the services

Nearly 200 years ago, the owner of Athelhampton House & Gardens, the fabulously wealthy Catherine Tylney Long, was courted by Robert "Romeo" Coates, an actor famed for his performances as Romeo. This July, come and see Romeo and Juliet performed as outdoor theatre at Athelhampton House & Gardens. Back in the early nineteenth century, Athelhampton House & Gardens were owned by the wealthiest commoner in England: Catherine Tylney Long. As a woman with a fabulously large fortune

Today is the anniversary of the death of William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley, 4th Earl of Mornington, which is something that plenty of people would have had cause to celebrate (including his wife, if he hadn't arguably caused her death!). William Pole Tylney Long Wellesley Notorious for his dissolute lifestyle, William was many things, but nice doesn't seem to have been one of them. Nephew of the Duke of Wellington, William was a big spender, drinking and gambling heavily to

A recent visit to Sherbourne Castle, another member of our Dorset Garden Trail, showed off the grounds beautifully. Sherbourne New Castle With its dramatic lake and naturalistic landscaping courtesy of Capability Brown, the grounds give an impression of simply having grown without any outside help or intervention. The natural calmness and harmony of the landscape Brown created belies the reality of the planning and the hard manual labour that had to go into creating the artif

On this day in 1685, the King James II had been on the throne for four months and five days. After the chaos and bloodshed of the Civil War, England wanted to try to stick to having a hereditary monarchy again, and not interrupt the line of succession. James had inherited the throne from his brother Charles, who had had plenty of children - the problem being that none of them were legitimate. Charles II However, there was a bit of a problem with James II. He was Catholic. In

When you go round Athelhampton House & Gardens, it's always worth looking up. Hidden details feature in almost every ceiling around the house, and the library is no exception. Alfred Carte de Lafontaine refurbished the room in 1893, stripping out the internal walls to create his "Long Gallery," where he could display his antiques. To complement these objects, many of them Tudor and Stuart in origin, he had the room decorated in a suitable style. The ceiling is heavily decorat

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

In the current hot weather, a visit to Hardy's Cottage, surrounded by shady woodland, felt appropriate. Another visitor attraction local to Athelhampton, Hardy's Cottage has a very different history. Hardy's Cottage with its Cottage Garden A small cob and thatch building, Hardy was still living here when he wrote Far From the Madding Crowd, a novel that is essentially set in Puddletown and at Athelhampton, though both go by different names in the book. In his descriptions of

Looking back through the visitor guidebooks for Athelhampton that have been produced since the 1960s this morning has proved to be a fascinating way of seeing not just how knowledge advances over time, but also how tastes change! 60 years of guidebooks at Athelhampton Research into Athelhampton, the house, and the families who lived here is constantly ongoing: it's only in the last month that we discovered an extra family who briefly owned Athelhampton, meaning that we need t

The Lion's Mouth Garden at Athelhampton Like much of England, it has been incredibly hot at Athelhampton House & Gardens this May, and one of the warmest spots in our grounds has to be the Lion’s Mouth Garden. Sheltered by old walls and basking in sunshine for most of the day, it becomes a little Mediterranean corner of Dorset. Looking towards the Eucalyptus tree in the Lion's Mouth Garden at Athelhampton Here, heat loving plants thrive, from the silver blue leaves of the Blu

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

Every historic house or stately home you visit is different, especially those that are part of the Historic Houses Association. Some Dorset houses, like Mapperton House and Sherborne Castle, let you go around as part of a guided tour, giving you personalised information and allowing you to ask questions of a guide as you go along. This is an amazing way of spotting small details, and aspects of a house that you might never otherwise have noticed, and is also a wonderful way o

Tucked beneath the eaves of the East Wing, a new perspective on Dorset’s historic buildings awaits. This season, John Lowe brings his work to the gallery at Athelhampton House, offering a thoughtful exploration of architecture across the county. A Dorset Story in Buildings John Lowe’s work is shaped by a long career as an architect and conservation specialist. His paintings and drawings go beyond surface detail, revealing how buildings were designed, used, and adapted over ti

Not very long ago, the Billiard Table in the Library at Athelhampton was almost impossible to play on. The fabric covering its surface wasn't just worn and faded with play and exposure to sunlight. It had suffered from major tears, meaning that the balls would no longer roll true. However, with the imminent arrival of the Oxford and Cambridge Club in Pall Mall to play snooker in our historic Dorset library at Athelhampton, something had to be done! There was no way for them t