Mapperton

Mapperton is a rural community in Dorset, 5 km south- east of Beaminster.

The community Mapperton is very small and has an area of ​​325 hectares population was always very low, and fell further: 123 ( 1821), 76 (1901 ) and 50 ( 1931). Even after the Second World War, the population continued to decline: 21 ( 1961).

The village was mentioned in documents for the first time in the Domesday Book as Malperetone or Malperretona which homestead, where maple trees grow means.

Mapperton House

The mansion was built in the 11th century and passed on the female succession to the next four families ( Brett, Morgan, Brodrepp and Compton ) until it was sold to a wealthy Scottish widow, Ethel Labouchere in 1919. When she died in 1955, it was acquired by Victor Montagu. When he died in 1995, it inherited John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich.

Mapperton House cut

Mapperton House from the garden

Garden Landscape

Robert Morgan built in the 1540s, a Tudor manor house, which is still preserved in the north wing. In the 1660s, largely renewed by Richard Brodrepp using the hall, the Western Front and the dovecote. A second Richard Brodrepp built the main staircase in the Georgian style in the 18th century. In 2006 the house was awarded " Nation 's Finest Manor House " by the magazine Country Life magazine.

Mapperton Gardens

The gardens are a well-known attraction in Dorset. The Italian Garden was created by Ethel Labouchere in the 1920s. In the 1950s, Victor Montague built a wild garden and the new orangery. The gardens are open to the public during the summer months.

Location

In the mansion in 1996 scenes of the movie Emma was filmed. It served there as the home of Weston Randall's family. 1997 has been the setting of a TV remake ( BBC ) of the novel by Henry Fielding The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (Tom Jones).