Guided Tours at Athelhampton

Every historic house you visit is different, especially those that are part of the Historic Houses Association.

Some, like Mapperton and Sherborne, 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 of discovering the stories of specific people who once lived there.

Other houses, like Kingston Lacy, for example, simply offer visitors a free flow experience, allowing them to wander at will. This allows you to take your time and absorb the atmosphere of the house without having to worry about keeping up with everyone else. Equally, you can focus on what you're specifically interested in, taking in details of paintings or furniture. Guidebooks and object labels can be better for those who prefer to take in written rather than verbal information, and it can be easier to have conversations with the people you're visiting with if you don't have to keep being quiet in order to listen to a steward giving a tour!

At Athelhampton, where we have always offered guests a free-flow experience, we are now offering guided tours as well, to supplement this. This means we can give guests the best of both worlds. These guided tours at Athelhampton are led by our stewards, and each of them has their own particular stories that they like to focus on, giving each tour a slightly different flavour.

While currently the guided tours at Athelhampton are about the house generally, we're currently working on developing some new ones, focussing on specific aspects of the house, including the furniture, the ghosts, or the paintings.

Athelhampton is open daily, saving a few days over Christmas. The guided tours are also offered daily, at varying times according to visitor flow - check at the front desk for the timings!