WHEN Richard III was killed at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and usurper Henry Tudor took the throne, a powerful new royal dynasty arose. In that same year a wealthy merchant, Sir William Martyn, was building Athelhampton Hall in Dorset and was quick to proclaim where his allegiance lay: an elaborately carved door bearing a Tudor rose was prominently placed in his new home.
Dorset manor houses rarely change hands, so when 15th-century …
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