Athelhampton House& Gardens

Athelhampton House is a Grade I listed manor built in 1485 by Sir William Martyn, its Great Hall retaining a hammerbeam roof from the original construction. Economist Giles Keating bought the estate in 2019 from the Cooke family, who had restored the house and gardens since 1957. The five acres of grounds include yew pyramids in the Great Court and herbaceous borders laid out in the 1890s by garden designer Inigo Thomas, registered Grade I in their own right. The Coach House Restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and cream teas using produce grown in the one-acre Edwardian kitchen garden beside the River Piddle, and is open to visitors without a ticket to the house or gardens. Sunday carvery is available by reservation. The property is one of the few historic houses in Dorset open to visitors throughout the year.