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Athelhampton
Athelhampton

Athelhampton (also known as Admiston or Adminston) is one of the finest 15th-century manor houses in England, and is set in superb gardens. A manor house or fortified manor-house is a Country house, which has historically formed the administrative centre of a manor (see Manorialism England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland It is a privately owned country house on 160 acres (647,000 m²) of parkland, located five miles (8 km) east of Dorchester, Dorset. The English country house is generally accepted as a large House or Mansion, once in the ownership of an individual who also usually owned another Great Dorchester is a Market town in southern central Dorset, England, on the River Frome at the junction of the A35 and A37 The house is now open for public visits.

In 1086, the site was recorded in the Domesday Book which states that the Bishop of Salisbury, with Odbold as tenant, held the manor, then called Pidele. The Domesday Book (ˈduːmzdeɪ bʊk also known as Domesday, or Book of Winchester) was the record of the great survey The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The name Aethelhelm appears in the 13th century, when Athelhampton belonged to the de Loundres family. In 1350 Richard Martyn married the de Pydele heiress, and their descendant Sir William Martyn, Lord Mayor of London in 1493, built the current Great Hall in or around 1485. Sir William Martyn of Athelhampton (c 1446 &ndash 14 January 1503) The Lord Mayor is the title of the Mayor of a major city with special recognition London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. He also received licence to enclose 160 acres (647,000 m²) of deer park and to fortify his manor.

A West Wing and Gatehouse were added in 1550, but in 1862 the Gatehouse was demolished. Sir Robert Long purchased Athelhampton House in 1665 from Sir Ralph Bankes. Sir Robert Long 1st Baronet (c 1600 – 13 July 1673) was a courtier administrator and politician in seventeenth century England. Sir Ralph Bankes (1631 - 1677 was a servant of the restored Charles II and a knighted member of the Privy Chamber In 1684 an attempt was made by the court to sequester the estate from the then owner, James Long Esquire (son of Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet), to recover a debt,[1] but this appears to have been unsuccessful. Sequestration is the act of removing separating or seizing anything from the possession of its owner under process of law for the benefit of Creditors or the state Sir James Long 2nd Baronet (c 1617 - 22 January 1692) was an English politician and Royalist soldier The estate passed down through the Long family to William Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley (Viscount Wellesley, later 5th Earl of Mornington), who sold it in 1848 to George Wood. William Richard Arthur Pole-Tylney-Long-Wellesley 5th Earl of Mornington ( 7 October 1813 – 25 July 1863) was a British nobleman The title Earl of Mornington was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1760 for Garret Wellesley In 1891, the house was acquired by the antiquarian Alfred de Lafontaine, who carried out restoration to the interior and added the North Wing in 1920–21.

At the same time, de Lafontaine engaged Inigo Thomas to create one of England's great gardens as a series of "outdoor rooms" inspired by the Renaissance. Twenty acres (81,000 m²) of formal gardens are encircled by the River Piddle, and consist of eight walled gardens with numerous fountains and pavilions, plus a balustraded terrace, statues, obelisks and magnificent vistas through gate piers. The River Piddle or Trent or North River is a small rural Dorset River which rises next to Alton Pancras church (Alton A baluster (according to OED derived through the French balustre, from Italian balaustro, from balaustra, "pomegranate flower" An obelisk (from Greek ὀβελίσκος - obeliskos, diminutive of ὀβελός - obelos, "spit nail pointed pillar" Great Court contains 12 giant yew pyramids set around the pool by the great terrace. Taxus baccata is a conifer native to western central and southern Europe, northwest Africa, northern Iran and southwest The lawn to the west has an early 16th-century circular dovecote, and the south terrace features a vast "Magnolia grandiflora" and a Banksian rose. A dovecote or dovecot is a building intended to house Pigeons or Doves which were an important food source in history Magnolia is a large Genus of about 210 Flowering plant Species in the subclass Magnolioideae of the family Pear trees cover the old walls and support roses and clematis. A pear is a pomaceous Fruit produced by a tree of Genus Pyrus. A rose is a perennial flowering Shrub or vine of the Genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae, that contains over 100 species Clematis (from Ancient Greek klematis, a climbing plant probably periwinkle) is a Genus of mostly vigorous climbing Lianas

Across the A35 stands the Church of St John, built in 1862 as a way of moving the old parish church away from the house. The church was designed by the Dorchester architect 'Hicks' who employed Thomas Hardy at the time. The Church was acquired with its pews and most of the Grave Yard in 1984 after the church had fallen into disrepair having been made redundant by the Church of England in 1975. The Church is now used by the Antiochian Orthodox parish of St Edward King and Martyr. The Greek Orthodox Church of Antioch, also known as the Eastern Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East, the Antiochian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Patriarchate A good congregation meet at the church with services every Sunday in addition and at Christmas hold a delightful Carol Service.

Athelhampton has been owned by three generations of the Cooke family, the present owners. It was used as a location for the 1972 film, Sleuth, when it was owned by Robert Cooke, MP. Sleuth is the 1972 film adaptation of the Tony Award -winning play of the same title by British playwright Anthony Shaffer. Robert Gordon Cooke ( 29 May 1930 - 6 January 1987) was a British Conservative Party politician

References

  1. ^ Notes and Queries for Somerset and Dorset - 1915 "An Incident at Admiston, Dorset in the 17th Century" pp102-104

External links

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