Nuneham House is an eighteenth century villa in the

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

style, set in parkland at Nuneham Courtenay in

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, England. It is currently owned by

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

and is used as a retreat centre by the

Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University The Brahma Kumaris are a spiritual movement that originated in Hyderabad, Sindh, during the 1930s.Stiff Leadbetter Stiff Leadbetter (c.1705–18 August 1766) was a British architect and builder, one of the most successful architect–builders of the 1750s and 1760s, working for many leading aristocratic families. Career Leadbetter's career began when he was ...

for

Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt, (1714 – 16 September 1777), known as Viscount Harcourt between 1727 and 1749, was a British diplomat and general who became Viceroy of Ireland. Biography Harcourt was born in Oxfordshire, the son of Hon. ...

. Interiors were designed by James Stuart and Lancelot "Capability" Brown designed the landscaped grounds. It is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Lord Harcourt demolished the original village of Nuneham Courtenay in the 1760s in order to create a landscaped park around his new villa, removing the existing village in its entirety, rebuilding it and diverting the main Oxford to London road (now the

A4074 The A4074 is a British A road from the Reading suburb of Caversham to the Heyford Hill roundabout on the Oxford Ring Road. The road starts from a junction with the A4155 close to the northern side of Caversham Bridge (over the River Thames) b ...

Oliver Goldsmith Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1728 – 4 April 1774) was an Anglo-Irish novelist, playwright, dramatist and poet, who is best known for his novel ''The Vicar of Wakefield'' (1766), his pastoral poem ''The Deserted Village'' (1770), and his pl ...

wrote of the demolition of the village and destruction of its farms to clear land to become this wealthy man's garden Rowley, 1978, page 132 in his poem ''

The Deserted Village ''The Deserted Village'' is a poem by Oliver Goldsmith published in 1770. It is a work of social commentary, and condemns rural depopulation and the pursuit of excessive wealth. The poem is written in heroic couplets, and describes the decline ...

''. Published in 1770, it expresses a fear that the destruction of villages and the conversion of land from productive agriculture to ornamental

landscape garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (french: Jardin à l'anglaise, it, Giardino all'inglese, german: Englischer Landschaftsgarten, pt, Jardim inglês, es, Jardín inglés), is a sty ...

s would ruin the

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasan ...

ry. Goldsmith gave his ''Deserted Village'' the pseudonym ''"Sweet Auburn"'', but did not disclose the real village to which it refers. However, he did indicate it was about from London and it is widely believed to have been Nuneham Courtenay. The house was altered by Henry Holland in 1781–2, including the heightening of the wings. In 1789, the 2nd Earl Harcourt re-erected the

Carfax Conduit The Carfax Conduit was a water conduit that supplied the city of Oxford with water from 1610 until 1869. The conduit ran in an underground lead pipe from a spring on the hillside above the village of North Hinksey, beneath Seacourt Stream and t ...

building in a prominent position in the park. It had had to be moved from Carfax in the centre of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, where it was an obstacle to traffic. In 1904, after the death of

Sir William Harcourt Sir William George Granville Venables Vernon Harcourt (14 October 1827 – 1 October 1904) was a British lawyer, journalist and Liberal statesman. He served as Member of Parliament for Oxford, Derby then West Monmouthshire and held the offices ...

, Nuneham House passed to his son,

Lewis Harcourt Lewis Vernon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt (born Reginald Vernon Harcourt; 31 January 1863 – 24 February 1922), was a British Liberal Party politician who held the Cabinet post of Secretary of State for the Colonies from 1910 to 1915. Lor ...

, known by many as "Loulou". He had recently married Mary Ethel Burns, a niece of American financier and banker,

J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became know ...

. The estate inherited by the young couple was in need of major renovation, which they could not afford. Morgan established a £52,000 ($260,000) line of credit at his

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

bank for his niece, which he told her did not need to be repaid. The Harcourts used these funds to renovate the old buildings and grounds. During World War II, Nuneham House and its surrounding parkland was requisitioned by the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

and became RAF Nuneham Park, a P.R.I.U. or photographic reconnaissance interpretation unit. Photographs taken by aircraft from

RAF Benson Royal Air Force Benson or RAF Benson is a Royal Air Force (RAF) station located at Benson, near Wallingford, in South Oxfordshire, England. It is a front-line station and home to the RAF's fleet of Westland Puma HC2 support helicopters, u ...

and other airfields over enemy territory were examined here by RAF officers as well as small contingents from the Army, Royal Navy and the USAAF.

Nissen hut A Nissen hut is a prefabricated steel structure for military use, especially as barracks, made from a half-cylindrical skin of corrugated iron. Designed during the First World War by the American-born, Canadian-British engineer and inventor Major ...

s and other, larger buildings were erected adjacent to the mansion, including a camp cinema which villagers were welcome to attend. The RAF station continued after the war in the same role until the mid-1950s, when the added buildings and roadways were demolished and the estate handed back to the Harcourt family, who sold it to Oxford University. The

Harcourt Arboretum Harcourt Arboretum is an arboretum owned and run by the University of Oxford. It is a satellite of the university's botanic garden in the city of Oxford, England. The arboretum itself is located south of Oxford on the A4074 road, near the vill ...

, part of the tree and plant collection of the

University of Oxford Botanic Garden The University of Oxford Botanic Garden is the oldest botanic garden in Great Britain and one of the oldest scientific gardens in the world. The garden was founded in 1621 as a physic garden growing plants for medicinal research. Today it conta ...

, occupies part of what were the grounds of Nuneham House. The landscaped parkland and pleasure gardens surrounding the house are listed Grade I on the

Register of Historic Parks and Gardens The Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England provides a listing and classification system for historic parks and gardens similar to that used for listed buildings. The register is managed by Historic England ...

.NUNEHAM COURTENAY
/ref> The estate includes the privately owned, two-storey Old Rectory, built in 1759 on the northern boundary by the first Earl. It was Grade-II listed in 1963 as part of the "Nuneham Courtney Park and Garden".Eight of the biggest country house sales in Britain in 2020
/ref>

References

Sources

*
English Heritage; Images of England, detailed architectural description
*

External links

Official website - Global Retreat CentreNuneham House entry from The DiCamillo Companion to British & Irish Country Houses"View of Nuneham Courtenay from the Thames" (1787)
— painting by

Joseph Mallord William Turner Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbule ...

(1775–1851) at Tate Online {{coord, 51.67818, N, 1.22041, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SU5498), display=title Buildings by Stiff Leadbetter Country houses in Oxfordshire Grade I listed parks and gardens in Oxfordshire Grade II* listed buildings in Oxfordshire Grade II* listed houses Houses completed in 1756 Royal Air Force stations in Oxfordshire South Oxfordshire District