Athelhampton Hall
The hall is a Grade I listed 15th-century privately owned country house on 160 acres (65 ha) of parkland. It is now open for public visits.
Sir William Martyn had the current Great Hall built in about 1493. A West Wing and Gatehouse were added in 1550, but in 1862 the Gatehouse was demolished. Sir Robert Long bought Athelhampton House in 1665 from Sir Ralph Bankes. 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, but this seems to have been unsuccessful. 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. 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. 20 acres (8.1 ha) 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 vistas through gate piers. Great Court contains 12 giant yew pyramids set around the pool by the great terrace. 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. Pear trees cover the old walls and support roses and Clematis.
Athelhampton has been owned by three generations of the Cooke family, the present owners. It was the setting for the 1972 film "Sleuth".
Athelhampton's commercial interests including some pubs and restaurants in Dorset are run by a partnership between Patrick & Andrea Cooke, the present owners, and Owen Davies. The Martyrs Inn in the historic village of Tolpuddle 1.6 miles (3 km) away has high profile links with Athelhampton.
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Famous quotes containing the word hall:
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