Hamptworth dates back many centuries and it is thought that the first house was built on the current site of Hamptworth Lodge in around 1620 AD.
It was however, extensively altered during the late Georgian and Victorian period and when the present owner's grandfather, Harold Moffatt inherited the estate in 1910, he pulled the house down and rebuilt it as he thought it might well have been in its original form. Moffat was a considerable authority on the Jacobean House and with architect Sir Guy Dawber (known as ‘the Lutyens of the West’), the house was rebuilt using only traditional building methods.
The brickwork designs are particularly fine and a feature was made of drain pipes and guttering. Some of the leaded windows have diamond cut inscriptions. Internally, Moffat made much of the furniture himself and these pieces are an accurate copy of the Jacobean Style.
The Estate itself is made up of 3,000 acres of mainly woodland and forestry and it is this that supports the Estate today.
The soil is too sandy and acidic for crops and thus dictates we must farm timber. The woodlands are generally mixed broadleaf and conifer.
