News from Athelhampton House & Gardens.

In Athelhampton’s Library, sunlight glows through this jewel of ancient stained glass. It’s a complicated shield, and often in tours, we talk about the shield next to this one instead! This shield belongs to the Zouche family of Harringworth, quartered with the arms of Cantilupe, Braose, and Clare — dynasties whose power stretched across medieval England. The Zouches were influential enough to give their name to Ashby de la Zouche in Leicestershire, where their castle once do

In the gardens at Athelhampton, our ancient yews aren’t just trees - they’re living architecture. Precise work being carried out to maintain fabulous topiary Each summer, our hardworking gardeners climb, clip, and shape the 12 towering topiary pyramids and other yews into their iconic forms. It’s slow, patient work, often at height, with a few places where a ladder just won’t reach — though always done following strict health and safety procedures. Challenging but rewarding w

At Athelhampton we remember that 540 years ago today it was the Battle of Bosworth. On 22 August 1485, King Richard III was slain, and lost his throne to Henry Tudor, who would become King Henry VII. Among those caught in the turmoil was Thomas Martyn of Athelhampton. Injured at Bosworth, he died soon after. His son William Martyn inherited the estate, and under the new Tudor King he became Sheriff of Dorset and a Royal commissioner. The great oak front door with its ancient

A bright rose growing in a quiet corner of our gardens today served as a reminder of a some medieval history at Athelhampton. Medieval land ownership was complicated. After 1066, the Crown claimed all land and granted it out in layers. The Crown was the top layer, and by the 1100s, places like Christchurch Priory (the middle layer), held manors from the Crown to fund their work, while families like the Martins of Athelhampton, held the manor beneath that. The Martins held Ath

This weekend only from the Amazon Kindle store you can enjoy a free eBook copy of Thomas Hardy 10 Lovers 50 Poems. Giles Keating tells the story of Hardy’s relationships with 10 women, and includes 50 poems that Hardy wrote about the highs and lows of his relationships. The book gives access to our short films dramatising and discussing each poem. This offer is available on Amazon.co.uk until 8am Monday morning or Amazon.com until midnight on Sunday. If you would prefer a pri

When you visit Athelhampton you will see that many of the walls of the Tudor House have pretty clumps of white, lavender and pink flowers of Erigeron, though we like to use its old English name, Fleabane. Hundreds of pink and white Erigeron flower heads dancing in the breeze 500 years ago the Tudor families at Athelhampton would have utilsed bouquets of dried fleabane which could be hung in a room or placed in a chest or coffer to deter fleas, flies and gnats. In times of a h

When you stand outside Athelhampton House, it often feels as though there are many pairs of eyes watching your every move. The house is adorned with many figures, faces and animals all carved from local Portesham stone. The monstrous faces of the gargoyles and grotesques were thought to keep evil spirits and demons away, and many of the animals are the heraldic symbols of the families who lived here in Tudor times. Next time you visit, take a moment to admire the detail in th

As good luck would have it, the rain stayed away from Athelhampton for almost all of this evening’s outdoor performance of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night by The Lord Chamberlain’s Men. Just a tiny shower right at the end! With the poor weather forecast, the gardening team were consulted about the potential rain. As they are keen weather-watchers, they correctly predicted that it would be dry this evening until 9pm! For more outdoor theatre at Athelhampton, you can come and see t

The Silver Safe at Athelhampton has just reopened after a week of renovations. It is the smallest of the 20 historic rooms open to the public. Athelhampton was purchased in 1660 by Sir Robert Long, (treasurer to Queen Henrietta Maria) he was a wealthy landowner and had many estates in Dorset, London, Wiltshire and Yorkshire. In the 1750s his descendants spent time at all their various estates. This may have been when this room was added, enabling valuable silverware to be lo

Calmer weather at Athelhampton today, the snow, frost, rain and wind of the last week was replaced by a dull grey sky. Athelhampton's Tudor Great Hall The visitors to our Dorset historic house and gardens still explore outside, but at this time of year the manor house is the focal point for many. A candelabra in Athelhampton's Tudor Great Hall, crafted by a local Dorset blacksmith 539 years after William Martyn started building Athelhampton’s Tudor Great Hall it looks absolut

Athelhampton is a beautiful stately home - one of the finest country houses in Dorset - but it was hardly the place for royalty in the 16th Century. Royal progresses, where the monarch essentially went "on tour" around the country, were huge affairs, involving hundreds if not thousands of people. Athelhampton, while a big house by modern standards, wasn't ever big enough to host the royal court. Sir William Martyn, who built some of the earliest parts of Athelhampton, escorte