the place
Dartington maintains and renews its estate as a place of beauty, providing support and inspiration for the people and programmes that work there.
The Dartington Hall Estate is located in the South Hams of Devon, historically part of the ancient district of Stanborough Hundred.
Dartington Hall is a medieval hall built between 1388 and 1400 for John Holand, Earl of Huntingdon, half-brother to Richard II. After John Holland was beheaded it stayed in the Holland family – going to John Holland II, Earl of Huntingdon and Third Duke of Exeter (whose active service included the Battle of Agincourt), 1400-1447; Henry Holand, Fourth Duke of Exeter, (who returning from an invasion of France drowned between Calais and Dover. A leading supporter of the Lancastrian cause, it was possibly at the order of Edward IV), 1447-1475. The Hall then passed through Holland’s widow to her second husband, Sir Thomas St Leger, (executed at Exeter for his part in a rising against Richard III), 1476-1483. It then passed to the Crown to be held by a succession of owners and tenants. For short periods it became the property of two of Henry VIII's wives, the Catherines Howard and Parr. it was bought in 1559 by Sir Arthur Champernowne, Vice-Admiral of the West under Elizabeth I. The Champernowne family lived in the Hall for 366 years.
The hall was derelict by the time it was bought by Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst in 1925. They renovated the buildings and set about their goal of promoting innovative rural reconstruction in what was then a depressed agricultural economy. In 1935 the Dartington Hall Trust, a registered charity, was set up to run the estate.
The estate has been the site of many events, conferences, and social experiments and hosted a variety of social and artistic groups.
The gardens were created by Dorothy Elmhirst with the involvement of major landscape designers Beatrix Ferrand and Percy Cane and feature a tiltyard (thought actually to be the remains of an Elizabethan water garden) and major sculptures, including Henry Moore and Peter Randall-Page. There is an ancient yew tree reputed to be nearly 2000 years old.
The Hall now functions as a conference centre and provides accommodation for courses and visitors. The cinema and the excellent White Hart Bar and Restaurant are used by estate dwellers, residents from the surrounding countryside, and visitors alike. The Estate is enjoyed by patrons and visitors from around the world.
The Dartington Hall Trust is a registered charity no. 279756. Company
no. 1485560
Registered Office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon
TQ9 6EL United Kingdom.
Telephone 01803 847000; Fax 01803 847007;