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100 Years of the Great Court at Athelhampton’s Historic Gardens

Updated: 6 days ago

On a rainy day at Athelhampton, there is nothing quite like a quiet rummage through our archive. Some of our photographs date from around 1850, from the earliest years of photography itself. Today’s pairing takes us back exactly a century, to 1926, when the historic gardens were opened to the public for the very first time by George and Mary Cochrane.


A black and white photo from 1926, showing the small yew pyramids and a parterre of flowers around a central pond containing a small fountain. In the background, a set of steps lead up to a terrace surrounded by flowers
The original Parterre and Yew Pyramids established in the Great Court in the late 1800’s

Then, the yew pyramids punctuated the corners of a now lost parterre garden. A century of growth later, those same pyramids have come to dominate the space, living markers of time, patience and continuity in the landscape.


The same view as the previous photo, but taken today. The pond with its fountain remain the same, but the yew pyramids dwarf everything else, almost completely obscuring the terrace that the steps lead up to. The parterre is completely gone.
Today’s view of the Great Court fountain between two of the Yew pyramids

Athelhampton is open everyday, rain or shine.

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