Hinton Ampner
I’m sure everyone has been pleasantly surprised from time to time by a friend ringing and inviting them out for the day. That is exactly what happened last Saturday, when friends asked my partner and me to visit Hinton Ampner in Hampshire with them. I had never been there before, but had heard that it is an attractive house, set in beautiful gardens. We immediately accepted.
A long drive surrounded by parkland leads from the main road to the property itself, which cannot be seen immediately, as it is approached via a walled garden. Neat rows of vegetables and carefully trained fruit trees sit cheek by jowl and would originally have provided produce for the house. This delayed approach only adds to the sense of anticipation.
A short historical explanation is probably appropriate here.
The property was left to the National Trust in 1985 by Ralph Dutton, after been in the possession of the Stawell and Dutton families for almost 400 years. Sir Thomas Stewkeley (one of Ralph Dutton’s ancestors) took a lease of the property in 1597, at which time it was an E-shaped house. This building survived until 1793, when it was demolished and replaced with a plain yellow brick Georgian house. Later, this was enlarged and remodelled in 1867, when formal parterres were added.
Ralph Dutton inherited the house in 1935 and decided to demolish most of it, in order to reveal the Georgian core of the property. He intended to redesign the garden in a similar style, but the Second World War interrupted his plans and the work was only completed in 1960.
Sadly, on 3rd April 1960, a fire broke out, which destroyed much of Dutton’s collection of furniture, books and pictures. He was unfortunate enough to have spotted the smoke rising as he was walking though the park. Ralph Dutton decided to rebuild the property in a Georgian style and to refurnish it.
On his death in 1985, he bequeathed the house, gardens and collections, as well as the hamlet of Hinton Ampner to the National Trust.
We decided to view the interior of the property first, thinking that there would be more visitors in the afternoon.
The furniture includes numerous pieces of pietra dura, ranging from tabletops to entire chests of drawers.
There is also an impressive selection of items made of blue john stone, which is only found in Derbyshire. It is a form of fluorite with blue/purple coloured bands and has been highly prized for centuries. Another unusual stone that features in the contents of the house is porphyry, both in its purple and green forms. This has been used for statues since ancient times, with important quarries being located in Egypt, amongst other places.
Clothes have been laid out in the bedrooms, to give the impression that the owner has simply left the room, but will return at any time. Likewise, a bathroom is ready in the bathroom.
After looking round the house, we had lunch in the restaurant, which is housed in one of the old outbuildings. The food was delicious and I can particularly recommend the lemon and toasted coconut cake!
After eating, a walk round the grounds was required to work off the extra calories.
The formal gardens immediately in front of the house are currently planted with cineraria and dark purple dahlias, which provide a stark contrast to the yew topiary. Beyond that are the herbaceous borders, which in turn give way to informal parkland, with sheep grazing in the distance.
To one side of the house is a lily pond, complete with carp and dark pink water lilies. Unfortunately, on the day we visited, the sky was overcast, so the reflections in the water were slightly disappointing.
The pond is flanked by a bed of very pale pink roses, some of which were still in bloom.
Included within the grounds is the tiny church of Hinton Ampner, part of which is pre-Conquest. It is built of the local flint and a change in construction from faced flint to carefully squared-off blocks of flint shows where the building has been extended in the past. A number of monuments of the Stewkeley, Stawell and Dutton families are attached to the internal walls, which reflect the importance of the families to the local area. The stained glass windows were added in 1970 and were designed by Patrick Reyntiens.
All in all, it was an extremely enjoyable day, despite the rain, which arrived in the late afternoon.
As with other National Trust properties, there are the obligatory shop, plant sales and even a second hand bookshop. More details of Hinton Ampner are available on the National Trust’s website at - www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hinton-ampner
