Martinsham Hall
Or Kingston Lacy
In ‘Weatherbury Farm’, Martinsham Hall is principally based on Kingston Lacy House although the distance between Weatherbury and Kingston Lacy has been necessarily shortened a great deal.
Bathsheba was taken to the Hall to recuperate after the misadventure at Budmouth fair and ministered to by Lady Emma Godwin whose husband Sir Cornelius owned the great house. In the summerhouse, (does not actually exist) Gabriel was told, by his wife, the real truth which lay behind her mishap at the fair.
When comparing the stately home with Oakdene Bathsheba much preferred her own rural farmhouse home.
Bathsheba was taken to the Hall to recuperate after the misadventure at Budmouth fair and ministered to by Lady Emma Godwin whose husband Sir Cornelius owned the great house. In the summerhouse, (does not actually exist) Gabriel was told, by his wife, the real truth which lay behind her mishap at the fair.
When comparing the stately home with Oakdene Bathsheba much preferred her own rural farmhouse home.
It was to Martinsham Hall that Bathsheba and Louisa went at the start of their campaign to set up a women’s movement. They met Lady Sarah Godwin there and arranged for meetings to take place.
Many social gatherings took place at the Hall and it was the scene of the lavish New Year’s Eve ball.
Kingston Lacy once belonged to the Bankes family, (they also owned Corfe Castle but were driven out by Cromwell’s troops during the civil war). The house and its large estate was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1981 by the late Sir Ralph Bankes together with Corfe Castle.
A veritable treasure house with marvellous antiquities and a white marble staircase, it has a truly wonderful ambience. Both house and gardens are open to the public. There is a restaurant and a gift shop.
A veritable treasure house with marvellous antiquities and a white marble staircase, it has a truly wonderful ambience. Both house and gardens are open to the public. There is a restaurant and a gift shop.
Corfe Castle, owned by the National Trust, is also open for visitors.
This is Kingston Lacy House, near to Blandford Forum. It features in the novel and also in one of Patricia Dolling-Mann’s other novels “A Claim to Kin” where you can learn more about Sarah Godwin, Sir Cornelius Godwin’s adopted daughter.