Hinton Ampner House, Hampshire, England

Hinton Ampner House is a stately home with gardens within the civil parish of Bramdean and Hinton Ampner, near Alresford, Hampshire, England.

The house and garden are owned by the National Trust and are open to the public

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.The property is now more noted for its garden than the house. Previously, the parkland came directly up to the house, which was designed to be a hunting lodge. An earlier Tudor house stood close to the current site, before the current house was built.

The current house was built in 1790 but remodelled extensively in 1867. It was remodelled again in the Neo-Georgian style 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 a number of fine paintings. There is a set of paintings of the four seasons by Jacob de Wit, depicting cherubs painted in a three-dimensional monochrome style.

Ralph Dutton's Bedroom

Ralph Dutton, with no direct heirs, gave the estate to the National Trust, on his death in 1985.

The old Tudor house attained notoriety, in the 18th century, after it became uninhabitable due to a severe haunting. The tenant, one Mary Ricketts, wrote extensively on the subject for her children's benefit, after having been literally forced to flee the property with a few remaining retainers (many had already left in terror).The house was pulled down in 1793, after its replacement had been built about 50 meters (160 feet) to the south.

Early History

The manor of HINTON or HINTON AMPNER was held by the bishop of Winchester at the time of the Domesday Survey, it had always belonged to the Church; the manor was assessed at eight hides and was worth 100s.

Hinton Ampner was among the manors confirmed to the prior and convent of St. Swithun, Winchester, in 1205, and again in 1285. The manor was appropriated to the office of almoner of St. Swithun's (hence the name Ampner which is a corruption of almoner); it defrayed the expenses of the almoner's office and the almoner held the manorial courts either in person or by his bailiff.

The manor remained in the possession of the priory of St. Swithun until the Dissolution when it passed with the other manors belonging to the priory to the dean and chapter of Winchester, by whom it was leased for a term of 21 years to Sir Thomas Stewkeley in 1637. At the sale of the dean and chapter's lands in 1650 it was bought by Sir John Hippesley for the sum of £2,587 17s. 5½d. There was then a capital messuage called Prior's Hinton or the manor-house consisting of a large hall, two parlours, and twenty-one chambers, with brewhouse, malthouse, stables, barns, a hop garden and bowling green. More than 700 acres of land were attached to the manor, including a common containing 100 acres. Hinton Ampner was recovered by the Cathedral Church at the Restoration and was again held by the Stewkeleys, who must have obtained the fee-simple of the manor about this date; although no record of this has been found.From the Stewkeleys it passed to the Stawells, by the marriage in 1719 of Mary, daughter and heiress of Sir Hugh Stewkeley, with Edward, fourth and last Baron Stawell. Lord Stawell left a daughter and heiress Mary, who was created baroness Stawell in 1759; she married as her first husband the Hon. Henry Bilson - Legge, who became Baron Stawell in right of his wife; and from this time onwards the descent of the manor follows that of Bedhampton (q.v.). The manor was held by paying a septennial fine, which was enfranchised by the Hon. John Dutton in 1863. The lord of the manor at the present day is Mr. Henry Dutton. View of frankpledge and rights of free warren in Hinton Ampner were granted to the dean and chapter under the grant of the manor to them in 1542.