Time Team Found Something At Mapperton!!
You won't believe it
Dear wonderful readers,
Spring at Mapperton is in full swing, and what a few weeks it has been. The Plant Fair has just broken records, our first episode of Time Team is airing, our inaugural Textiles & Tapestries Retreat has wrapped, the Best of West Dorset market is pulling extraordinary numbers, and a major restoration project is right around the corner. There is so much to share.
In this newsletter, you’ll find:
· Time Team comes to Mapperton
· The Plant Fair: a record-breaking day
· How to Renovate a Chateau pays us a visit
· Our inaugural Textiles & Tapestries Retreat
· Best of West Dorset is bigger than ever
· The West Room: our most ambitious restoration yet
· The book (time to preorder!)
Let’s get into it.
Time Team comes to Mapperton
The first episode of Time Team’s visit to Mapperton is airing now, and we honestly cannot believe it is finally out in the world. The story behind it is wonderful: a farmer on the estate found Roman tiles here over twenty years ago, and that quiet discovery is what eventually brought Time Team down to dig.
They were here for three days, and it was, without question, the most thrilling three days we have had on the estate in a very long time. We can’t share what they uncovered just yet—but trust us, you will want to be watching.
The Plant Fair: a record-breaking day
Our annual Plant Fair was extraordinary. We welcomed around 1,500 visitors in a single day—one of the most successful Plant Fairs we have ever held—and for the first time, we sold our own propagated and lifted plants alongside the brilliant nurseries.
We lifted phormiums from the formal-garden urns (the same urns I’ve now planted with tulips), divided rhubarb crowns and irises from the kitchen garden, and grew on cuttings of succulents and geraniums in the conservatory.
Every plant sold raised money for the kitchen-garden restoration—£400 in total, which is wonderful. Enormous thanks to our volunteers, who made the whole day possible.
How to Renovate a Chateau pays us a visit
We had the great pleasure of welcoming Anna and Philipp, of How to Renovate a Chateau, along with Anna’s parents and their two children, who stayed in our four-bedroom Coltleigh Farmhouse on the estate. The weather was perfect and we filmed and filmed and filmed.
The collaboration goes live this Saturday, and Mapperton Live! Patrons get it first.
Our inaugural Textiles & Tapestries Retreat
We have just wrapped the very first Textiles & Tapestries Retreat at Mapperton, and it was a complete sell-out. Twelve guests joined us for two extraordinary days of stitching, conservation and conversation, led by Deborah Wilding of the Royal School of Needlework.
The undisputed highlight was the unveiling of our newly conserved peacock tapestry. Emma Telford—the UK’s leading tapestry conservator—brought it down herself, and we placed it back in the West Room, where we believe it will stay. Emma and Julie did a live Q&A together to mark the moment.
Guests stitched in the coach house, ate beautifully in the dining room (Chef Joe was on top form), and rounded the retreat off with a formal three-course dinner that was sensational. The weather, somehow, was glorious.
A handful of places remain for our September retreat, where guests will stitch a motif drawn from Alberta’s newly displayed House of Worth gown.
Best of West Dorset is bigger than ever
Best of West Dorset—our food, drink and craft market—is having the year of its life. Yesterday and today have been record-breaking, on track to make this our biggest year of three so far, and it is wonderful to see so many people pouring through the gates.
We have cooking demonstrations all weekend, the markets are dog and family friendly, and Pippa’s Picnic Trail is keeping the children very happily entertained. If you’re nearby, do come along.
The West Room: our most ambitious restoration yet
You’ve heard us hint about this, and now we can confirm: we are taking on the most ambitious heritage restoration the house has ever seen, in the West Room. Hand-painted wallpaper, new silk damask linings, a properly conserved duchesse brisée, and a colour palette we are deeply in love with.
Julie has just met with Malcolm in London, and we have brought in another extraordinary collaborator (whose name we’ll be revealing very soon).
By the end of May, we will be sharing the full plan…and a really clever way for you to be part of it.
The book (pre-order now!!)
Julie’s book, Secrets of an English Country House: A Year at Mapperton, is officially at the printers and out for pre-order now. Publication day is 24th September 2026.
Pre-orders make a huge difference to how a book is launched, and there is a generous set of pre-order gifts on offer for anyone who orders before 23rd September, including three free months of Mapperton Live! for anyone not yet a Patron.
The following link will take you to all the info you need, including how to order via independent bookstores and Amazon…so that you have a choice!
From all of us at the estate: thank you for being here. Between the Plant Fair, Time Team, Best of West Dorset, the retreat, and the restoration plans now taking shape, the energy at Mapperton this spring has been something quite special. We’re so glad to be sharing it with you.
With appreciation,
Luke & Julie xx