Dartington Hall was originally built in 1388 for John Holand, Earl of Huntingdon and half brother to Richard II, He was beheaded in 1400 after an unsuccessful rebellion against Henry IV. Dartington then belonged to the Crown and a number of individual owners until it was purchased in 1559 by Sir Arthur Champernowne. Sir Arthur Champernowne was Vice-Admiral of the West under Elizabeth I, a man of energy, ambition and fearless self-reliance. His successors lived at Dartington for over three hundred years, until the estate was purchased by Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst in 1925.
Much of the courtyard was derelict and in response the Elmhirsts initiated a decade of uninhibited reconstruction, not to turn it into a museum but to make it a place to live and work.
Leonard and Dorothy Elmhirst combined an unusual sense of vision and adventure, the willingness and courage to put ideas into practice and the financial means with which to do so. Their vision laid the foundations and created the spirit upon which present day Dartington is based.
The Elmhirsts came to Dartington with at least two basic ambitions - to create a school and to rehabilitate the estate. Initially the school was amongst the most revolutionary of its time. In rehabilitating the estate, they planted orchards, created a poultry department and woodlands extending up to Dartmoor. Also a sawmills was started, a textile mill, a cider-making plant and a gleaming white office block designed by William Lescaze from New York. Studios and workshops for the practice and performance of the arts were also built nearer the Hall. Their energy is a moving revelation of the power of vision to build a more abundant life.
Call dartington on 01803 847100 or email bookings@dartingtonhall.com
Related websites: dartington.org
