Hinton Ampner House is a country manor with gardens within the parish of Hinton Ampner, near Alresford, Hampshire, England.
The 12 acre garden, set in 80 acres of unspoilt parkland, combines a formal layout with varied and informal plantings of shrubs interspersed with herbaceous plants.
There are magnificent vistas both within the garden and over the parkland and rolling Hampshire countryside.
Previously, the parkland came directly up to the house, which was designed to be a hunting lodge.
Picture opposite: Gate to church garden.
The house and garden are owned by the National Trust and are open to the public.
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hinton-ampner.
The garden was created by Ralph Stawell Dutton (1898–1985), the 8th and last Baron Sherborne, starting in 1930, making this a modern 20th century garden.
Photograph of Ralph Dutton courtesy of Wikipedia.www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Stawell_Dutton,_8th_Baron_Sherborne
It was remodelled again by Trenwith Wills and Lord Gerald Wellesley for Ralph Dutton between 1936 and 1939 to his vision of what it would have been like had it been built on its current scale in 1790 - a Georgian country house.
It was badly damaged by fire in 1960, and restored again much as it had appeared in 1936.
The house contains Ralph Dutton’s fine collection of Regency furniture, Italian paintings and hardstone items.
Ralph Dutton wrote the book "A Hampshire Manor" that chronicles the history of the manor at Hinton Ampner and its gardens. Other books by Ralph Dutton include:
- The English Country House
- The English Garden
- The Land of France - with Lord Holden
- The English Interior
- Wessex
- London Homes
- The Age of Wren
- Normandy and Brittany
- The Victorian Home
- The Chateau of France
- English Court Life
With no direct heirs, he gave the estate to the National Trust, on his death in 1985.
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