Hygienic Tudors at Athelhampton House, Dorset

For all that many people think of the Tudors (and, indeed, many of our ancestors in other periods) as being dirty or unhygienic, in reality, they placed a great deal of importance on cleanliness and washing. One piece of evidence for this lives in the silver safe at Athelhampton - one of more than 20 historic rooms open to the public.

The pottery aquamanile, depicting a knight on horseback, used for washing hands before dinner

This strange looking piece of pottery, showing an incredibly unrealistic knight on an incredibly unrealistic horse, is an aquamanile. The name comes from Latin - aqua meaning water, and manos meaning hands. In a time before proper plumbing, washing your hands before eating was done not by standing at a sink with running water. Instead, it required a ewerer to pour water over the diners' hands into a basin.

While this could have been done with a simple jug and bowl, the elite of Tudor society, such as the Martyn family who lived at Athelhampton in Dorset, enjoyed showing off their wealth and status through a variety of means. An aquamanile in the shape of a fantastical beast, or - like this one - in the shape of a knight on horseback, would provide both evidence of the owner's wealth, but also the potential for a conversation topic. And, most importantly of all, it meant that people could wash their hands in clean water, rather than all dipping their hands in the same water that others had already washed their hands in.

Athelhampton House, one of Dorset's finest Tudor manor houses, is open 7 days a week throughout the year, so you can come and visit and see this strange piece of pottery in person whenever you like! And if you want to see the context in which it was used, come and visit us in October half term, when you can meet the Martyn family and see not just how they dined, but how they lived, as part of our living history event.