News from Athelhampton House & Gardens.

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

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

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