Athelhampton House, Dorset - 21st July 2014

Athelhampton House is everything one might wish for in an English manor house but its 20 acre gardens are Italian in style. It also has some fairly recent "secret gardens".

The house is now in superb condition but needed to be extensively restored in the late 19th Century.

The twelve pyramid shaped yew trees are an oft referred to feature of the Grade 1 listed gardens.

Another pyramid shaped feature of the gardens.
Entrance to one of the garden "rooms" that grace the property.
And inside is this most distinctive garden with imaginative walls and tilting urn fountain.
The River Piddle borders the house and, when not too soggy with rain, provides a tranquil walk in an area left with many natural features. It ends by the 16th century circular dovecote. Wildlife abounds.
The colour combination of foliage and flower, all in immaculate condition.
40,000 visitors each year! We arrived very late in the day and it was quiet. The gardens, I am reliably informed, are stunning in Spring. It's in the new 2015 calendar.

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And remembering .....

Galanthus 'Mighty Atom'