Athelhampton House & Gardens

Great place to visit, different rooms presented in various eras of the house's history. Lovely gardens with clear route to follow or just go freestyle. Giant cream tea too! What more could you ask?

Just wonderful.The highlight of our Dorset weekend.Beautiful house and gardens.The guide was so helpful and keen to share her knowledge of the house and medieval history.There is lots to look around, including and art gallery.The restaurant was excellent. We especially enjoyed the roast parsnip and apple soup.

Fantastic Gardens which each section enjoying fantastic water features. Lovely cafe with great range of good food. Highly recommended.

One of our favorite stops on our trip. Athelhampton House and Gardens is a lovely spot to tour. What makes it unique is that you are encourage to have a seat in the grand rooms and really get a feel for the place. The docents were very knowledgeable and if you ask, will show what might have been a secret door to hide priests. Set on the Piddle river, which was very small, it is a lovely spot to stroll the gardens. I loved all of the history and the connections to novelist Thomas Hardy. Very well cared for and seeing some of the new antiques, including a newly acquired medieval armor chest was really fascinating.

Our first visit to Athelhampton. We were not disappointed. The staff were lovely, and were really attentive and informative. My one complaint would be lack of signage. We didn't have time to look round the gardens properly, but will definitely be back.

The house is a funny mix of old and modern rooms but I liked it. The gardens are very well kept and a joy to walk through. It is worth to visit when you are in the area.

Lovely house with many interesting features and informative guides. Gardens would be lovely in season. We went in early Nov. so not much to see.

We attended for an Art Exhibition showing in the Long Gallery upstairs. This was my first visit to the house. What a fantastic garden… We intend to return and see the buildings and gardens at a much more leisurely pace…

We loved Athelhampton, from the delicious food, prettily prepared in the cute indoor cafe to the peaceful, beautifully maintained grounds. The house itself is a truly wondrous place and has a lovely eerie vibe. The rooms aren't roped off (there is one and the top floor of the house), and it really does mean you can fully immerse yourself in the history of the house. I could spend days there. Didn't see any ghosts, but I will definitely return. It feels like one of those places you could just continuously explore. The staff were so friendly, helpful and full of knowledge. We were shown one of the secret passage ways, it was so interesting and really added to the mystery this place so obviously holds.I took my ten year old daughter, and we both absolutely loved it.

A beautiful, relaxed visit. The staff were both welcoming and professional. Nothing was too much trouble.Ruby was particularly charming whilst dining, a real credit to the estate. The food was of excellent quality and featured many locally produced ingredients. I very much enjoyed the apple juice produced from Athelhampton's own orchard.The gardens were lovely, calming, and good for the soul. I look forward to returning in a different season to discover more of the many intricate details and history.Thank you to the estate team for the warm welcome, especially Ruby!