Athelhampton and Purbeck Ball Clay: An Unexpected Dorset History Connection
At first glance, Athelhampton House & Gardens and the clay pits of Purbeck appear to represent completely different sides of Dorset history.
One is a Tudor manor house near Dorchester with more than 500 years of history. The other is a landscape shaped by clay miners, narrow-gauge railways and industrial activity around Corfe Castle, Norden and Poole Harbour.
However, a recent visit by a member of the team at Athelhampton House & Gardens to the Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum at Norden prompted us to investigate a possible connection.
The story leads from the Martyn family and the medieval port of Poole to the Brunes and Bankes family, who became directly involved in Purbeck’s valuable ball-clay industry.
The Martyn Family and the Port of Poole
During the late 15th century, while the Martyn family were developing Athelhampton, Sir William Martyn held an important position at the port of Poole.
Sir William served as Collector of Customs and Subsidies at Poole in 1473 and 1476. His father had held the position before him, in 1449, and his son Christopher followed in 1499.
This placed the Martyn family firmly within the commercial life of one of Dorset’s growing ports.
Purbeck clay would later become an important commodity shipped through Poole Harbour, raising an intriguing question: was clay already being traded through Poole while the Martyns were collecting customs there?
At present, there is no direct evidence proving such a connection.
Clay had been worked in Dorset for centuries, including during the Roman period, but large-scale extraction around Purbeck developed much later. From the 17th century, growing demand for white clay tobacco pipes helped turn the local deposits into an increasingly valuable resource.
The Martyns’ involvement at Poole therefore remains an interesting avenue for further research rather than a confirmed link with the clay trade.
How Poole Replaced Wareham as Dorset’s Principal Port
Wareham had once been the most important port within Poole Harbour. Over time, however, the River Frome became increasingly difficult for larger vessels to navigate as the channel silted.
By the end of the 13th century, much of Wareham’s overseas trade had transferred to Poole, although local goods continued to pass through Wareham Quay for centuries.
When Sir William Martyn was building the Great Hall at Athelhampton in around 1485, Poole was already becoming a major centre for Dorset’s maritime trade. This helps explain the Martyn family’s customs roles and also sets the scene for the later growth of the Purbeck clay industry.
As clay extraction expanded, Poole Harbour became an essential route connecting the pits of Purbeck with manufacturers elsewhere in Britain and overseas.
The Brunes, the Bankes Family and Athelhampton
A stronger connection with Purbeck emerged during the 17th century.
Following the death of Nicholas Martyn in 1595 without a male heir, Athelhampton was divided between his four daughters. Through marriage and inheritance, the Brune family later acquired three of the four shares, giving them ownership of most of Athelhampton.
In 1661, Mary Brune, the family’s heiress, married Sir Ralph Bankes of Corfe Castle. Through this marriage, the Bankes family became part of the family that held the majority interest in Athelhampton, although the shares were sold to Sir Robert Long a few years later.
The marriage connected Athelhampton with one of Purbeck’s most prominent landowning families. The Bankes family was closely associated with Corfe Castle and later Kingston Lacy, while its estates included land across Purbeck.
This connection became particularly significant as the Purbeck ball-clay industry grew.
Henry Bankes and the Purbeck Clay Pits
By the late 18th and early 19th centuries, surviving documents show that the Bankes family’s relationship with Purbeck clay went beyond simply owning land near the deposits.
Court records for Arne and Slepe repeatedly mention Henry Bankes between 1783 and 1793. These include accusations that he had made a “considerable encroachment” onto Slepe Common.
The purpose of this encroachment is not recorded, so it cannot confidently be connected with clay extraction. Other records, however, provide much clearer evidence of the Bankes family’s commercial involvement.
Papers relating to the Norden Clay Company suggest that the business was established around 1792. In 1817, a draft lease was drawn up between Henry Bankes and Samuel Whiteway, Watts & Co for the Studland Clay Pits. It granted the exclusive right to dig clay on Bankes-owned land at Studland Heath.
This provides a direct documentary connection between the Bankes family and Purbeck’s clay-mining industry.
A marriage that linked Mary Brune of Athelhampton with Sir Ralph Bankes in 1661 therefore leads, several generations later, to evidence of the same family leasing land for clay extraction in Purbeck.
Purbeck Ball Clay, the Pike Family and Wedgwood
The material extracted in the area is generally known as Purbeck ball clay.
The name is thought to come from an early method of extraction. Clay was cut into blocks using hand tools, but handling and transportation gradually rounded the edges until the pieces resembled balls.
The name “Pike” is also closely associated with Dorset’s clay industry, but it does not describe a separate variety of clay. It refers to the Pike family, who became prominent Purbeck clay merchants and developed major workings around Furzebrook. Their business later operated as Pike Brothers, Fayle & Co.
Purbeck ball clay was valued for its plasticity, strength before firing and pale colour once fired. These qualities made it an important ingredient in ceramic production.
The famous Staffordshire manufacturer Josiah Wedgwood began ordering large quantities of Purbeck clay during the 18th century. It was not normally used alone. Depending on the ceramic being produced, ball clay could form roughly a fifth to a quarter of a mixture containing other materials such as china clay, flint and Cornish stone.
Although only one ingredient, it was a vital one. Ball clay improved the mixture’s workability and helped unfired pieces retain their shape and strength during production.
Growing demand from manufacturers such as Wedgwood encouraged the construction of pits, tramways and quays across Purbeck. In 1806, the Middlebere Plateway became Dorset’s first railway, carrying clay from workings near Corfe Castle to Middlebere Creek on Poole Harbour.
Discover Purbeck’s Clay-Mining History
Today, the Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum at Norden, near Corfe Castle, preserves this often-overlooked part of Dorset’s industrial heritage.
Its locomotives, mining equipment and surviving narrow-gauge railway help tell the story of the people who extracted and transported Purbeck ball clay. The museum also shows how an apparently modest local material became part of a much wider ceramics industry and international trading network.
The connection with Athelhampton demonstrates that Dorset’s historic houses did not exist in isolation. Their owners were connected through marriage, landownership, trade and business to the industries developing around them.
The Martyn family’s role at Poole provides a possible early line of enquiry, while the marriage of Mary Brune and Sir Ralph Bankes creates a clear family connection between Athelhampton and Purbeck. Later leases then provide documentary evidence of the Bankes family’s direct commercial involvement in the clay pits.
There are still questions to explore. Did Purbeck clay pass through Poole while members of the Martyn family were collecting customs there? How much income did the Bankes estate receive from its clay leases? What further evidence might survive within Dorset’s port and estate records?
For now, this unexpected connection brings together two fascinating sides of Dorset history.
Visit the Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum at Norden to discover the miners, clay pits and narrow-gauge railways of Purbeck, before exploring more than 500 years of family, architectural and social history at Athelhampton House & Gardens near Dorchester.
