THE lure of Broadchurch and curiosity brought more than 1,000 visitors to Bridehead - aka Axehampton House - in Littlebredy at the weekend.

Sir Philip Williams opened up his ancestral home - seven generations of his family have lived there since 1797 - to raise money for rape crisis charities and the village church.

The house and grounds were open for two days with an army of village volunteers from Littlebredy and Long Bredy stewarding and baking enough cakes and cream teams to feed the visitors all weekend, boosting the more than £5,000 raised for the charities.

Stewards reported visitors came for a variety of reasons - because of the lure of the hit TV drama and seeing where some of the scenes were filmed and wanting to look around the Georgian house which is not normally open to the public.

Sir Philip and Lady Williams said it had been a great success.

Sir Philip said: "It went very well. Everyone been really nice. It's been a pleasure and everyone seems really grateful that the house is open

"We do have concerts and other charity events but probably Broadchurch is something a bit different."

He said there were even visitors whose own family were connected to the estate.

He said: "Some women introduced themselves to me and said their grandfather worked as a groom on the estate and showed me a set of pictures of their grandfather on a horse in the stables and the house their family lived and of the waterfall as it used to be with cultivated borders."

There were information leaflets on the Dorset Rape Crisis Support Centre and The Shores dedicated Sexual Assault Referral Centre where donations included £50 from one person.

The rooms were full of photos of the cast and crew at work which Sir Philip said were very popular.

Si Philip added: "The crew and cast were here three times last summer. To the uninitiated, it could seem chaotic and repetitive but the cast and crew were generally appreciative and a pleasure to have around."

Family friend Insp Les Fry, who grew up in Littlebredy, was there to support the cause.

He said: "We are here just to support and have a look.

"It is a great cause for Dorset and it is nice to see so many people here.

"The processes for rape and sexual assault have moved on enormously.

"We are far better dealing with those sort of offences now and it is really nice to see the processes reflected in the TV programme to give people the trust and confidence to report abuse because it does take courage to report such matters."