Pictures of Briantspuddle

About Briantspuddle

This remarkable village owes much to the agricultural experiment carried out by Sir Ernest Debenham during the years between the two World Wars. Sir Ernest was the head of a large London store and so he had the time and money at his disposal for his scheme which he regarded as an attempt to prove that Great Britain could be solely responsible for feeding the British nation. In an experiment far ahead of it's time Sir Ernest introduced scientific methods to intensify pig, poultry and dairy farming. His building projects were centred on the 'Arts and Crafts' style, using mostly, locally made building materials and his legacy lives on in the many houses and cottages he built in and around the village.

This quaint village differs from most English villages in that it has no church and there is very little here other than fine whitewashed cottages interspersed down narrow leafy lanes that are more used to driven herds than the modern motor vehicles of today. The village though, wears well an air of quiet charm which shows in beautifully kept gardens that border thickly thatched, mullion windowed dwelling houses of by-gone days. The most interesting and attractive properties are perhaps those known as The Ring - a group of cottages with two turrets of thatch, built by Sir Ernest Debenham in 1919, their intended use was as a dairy farm.

Just a short way away from Briantspuddle is an interesting memorial commemorating the dead of two world wars, it is by the noted artist Eric Gill and is of local Portland stone and sculpted in the form of an ancient Market cross.

Briantspuddle is close to the magnificent Dorset coast and not far from the rivers Piddle and Frome. There is a museum at Tolpuddle and Athelhampton House is close-by. The NT property of Clouds Hill is just a short distance away. This is a region of great beauty that has much to attract and interest the visitor.