ATHELHAMPTON MANOR

Identity: confirmed — The TNA/MDR record F245512 and authority reference GB/NNAF/M224130 identify Athelhampton Manor in Dorset. Historic England identifies the historic manor of Athelhampton and its surviving manor house, Athelhampton Hall, at the same location. The historical name Pidele is associated with the Domesday manor, but no saved alternative name is present in the registry record.
Representative point: 50.74761, -2.32650
Basis: documented_manor_house — Athelhampton Hall, the surviving historic manor house, is documented by Historic England as a Grade I listed manor house and is located at OS Grid Reference SY7706194274. The coordinates supplied are the WGS84 position for the hall.
Point confidence: high
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Medieval to early modern; exact manorial boundary period not established
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The evidence confirms the manor-house site and records a 1495 licence for Sir William Martyn to enclose 160 acres as a deer park. Historic England describes the former deer park and surviving park-pale traces, but neither the available sources nor the registry record provide a complete boundary map or a sufficiently explicit perimeter for the whole historical manor. The 160-acre deer park cannot safely be substituted for the full manorial extent.
Sources:
- The National Archives, Manorial Documents Register: Athelhampton Manor, F245512: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F245512 — Registry record supplied for the exact manor; identifies the MDR/TNA record and supports the manor identity.
- Historic England: Athelhampton, Athelhampton and Puddletown, 1000430: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1000430 — Identifies the historic manor of Athelhampton, describes its ownership history, the late fifteenth-century deer park, surviving park-pale traces, and the site's geographic setting.
- Historic England: Athelhampton Hall, Athelhampton, 1323995: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1323995 — Documents the surviving manor house as Athelhampton Hall and provides the relevant OS grid location, supporting the representative point.
- Athelhampton House: History of a Manor: https://www.athelhampton.com/history — States that the Domesday manor was called Pidele, describes the succession of the manor, the construction of Athelhampton Hall in 1485, and the 160-acre deer-park licence.
- Dorset Online Parish Clerks: Athelhampton with Burleston: https://gosa.opcdorset.org/AthelhamptonFiles/Athelhampton.htm — Provides corroborating local historical context, including the Domesday name Pidele, the separate Athelhampton and Burleston manors, and the 160-acre deer-park and fortification licence.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- No complete, source-backed polygon for the historical manorial land has been located.
- The surviving registered park-and-garden boundary is not the same as the full historical manor boundary.
- The documented 160-acre deer park is a component of the manor's historic lands, not necessarily the entire manorial extent.