Bapton is a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
in
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...
, England, in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
of
Stockton. It lies south of the
A36 and the
River Wylye
The River Wylye ( ) is a chalk stream in the south of England, with clear water flowing over gravel. It is popular with anglers for fly fishing. A half-mile stretch of the river and three lakes in Warminster are a local nature reserve.
Cour ...
, on the minor road which follows the right bank of the Wylye, about 1 mile southeast of Stockton village and about southeast of
Warminster
Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church of S ...
.
Bapton, consisting of 1,174 acres, almost all owned as a single estate, was part of
Fisherton Delamere parish from the earliest times until that parish was extinguished in 1934, when Bapton was transferred to Stockton.
The estate was owned by
Sir Cecil Chubb
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as ...
, the last private owner of
Stonehenge
Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, west of Amesbury. It consists of an outer ring of vertical sarsen standing stones, each around high, wide, and weighing around 25 tons, topped by connectin ...
, from 1927 until his death. In 1939 his heirs sold the property to
Alfred Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton
Lieutenant Alfred Douglas Douglas-Hamilton, 13th Duke of Hamilton and 10th Duke of Brandon TD, DL (6 March 1862 – 16 March 1940) was a Scottish nobleman and sailor.
Early life
Hamilton was born at Shanklin, Isle of Wight, in 1862, the son ...
, who died in 1940.
Bapton Manor is a
country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
in dressed limestone. The five-bay front was built in the 1730s,
while the east end may date from the 17th century.
References
External links
Hamlets in Wiltshire
{{Wiltshire-geo-stub