Athelhampton Hall

Athelhampton Hall is a 15th-century manor house in the village of Athelhampton, Dorset. It sits on land first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, when the Bishop of Salisbury and a tenant named Odbold held the estate under the name Pidele. The name Athelhampton appears in the 13th century, belonging to the Loundres family. In 1350 Richard Martyn married the heiress of de Pydele, and their descendant Sir William Martyn, Lord Mayor of London in 1492, gained permission to enclose a 65-hectare medieval deer park and fortify the house. The present building includes a Great Hall built about 1493 by Sir William Martyn, a West Wing and gatehouse added in 1550, and later alterations by Alfred de Lafontaine in the early 20th century. The garden, designed by Inigo Thomas between 1920 and 1921, is one of England’s finest Renaissance-inspired schemes. Eight walled gardens follow the River Piddle, lined with fountains, pavilions, balustrades, statues and yew pyramids. A 16th-century dovecote and a magnolia stand on the South Terrace, while old walls are covered with pear trees, roses and clematis. The house has belonged to the Cooke family for three generations. A fire in 1992 destroyed much of the upper floors, revealing original servants’ layouts and a painted sketch of a classical fireplace behind later panelling. Nearby, the Martyrs Inn in Tolpuddle, three kilometres away, links the estate to local history. Athelhampton has also appeared in films and television, including Doctor Who’s ‘The Seeds of Doom’ and Julian Fellowes’ ‘From Time to Time’.