By A. De LAFONTAINE, Esq. 



(Read August 9th, 1890.) 



HAVE been asked by our excellent Honorary Secretary 

 to give you some account of this house and its 

 many points of interest. To this request I very 

 reluctantly consented, for I cannot but feel that 

 there are many present who are better qualified 

 than myself to speak on the architectural beauties 

 of Athelhampton and its history, both from a 

 greater knowledge of the period, and also, most 

 certainly, from a longer acquaintance with the place. However, 

 with your kind indulgence, I will do my best, prefacing my 

 remarks with the assurance of the great pleasure it gives me to 

 welcome the Dorset Field Club here to-day. 



The origin of the name Athelhampton, or more correctly 

 Athelhampstan, is somewhat uncertain. Coker, in his " Survey 

 of Dorsetshire," says " the veri name intimates nobilitie," and 

 thus, even though the old tradition of its being King Athelstan's 

 residence be thrown overboard, there remain the three Saxon 

 words ATHEL (noble), HAM (habitation), and STAN (denoting 

 the superlative degree) to intimate a sufficient degree of eminence. 

 Hutchins thinks it probable that Athelhelme, one of the Saxon 



