Buckland House
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Buckland House is a large Georgian
stately home 300px, Oxfordshire.html" ;"title="Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire">Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a To ...
, the
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
of Buckland in
Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
(formerly in
Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
). It is a masterpiece of
Palladian architecture 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 ...
erected by John Wood, the Younger for Sir Robert Throckmorton in 1757 to replace a previous manor house. Buckland House has nine bays, the three central ones being narrow on each of its three storeys. Two wings of lower height adjoining connected by narrow galleries. The building overlooks a landscaped park, which includes gardens, a cricket ground and a deer park. Buckland House is a Grade II*
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
.
Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...
described it as "the most splendid Georgian house in the Country", It is rumoured that a ghost of a white lady haunts the house. The previous manor house, Buckland Manor House, also a Grade II* listed building, was converted into stables in 1797 and is in the park.


Owners

In the mid-1750s Sir Robert Throckmorton, 4th Baronet had Buckland House built to replace his previous manor house. Following his death in 1791, Sir John Courtenay Throckmorton inherited the estate. Between 1870 and 1872, it was said the house had relics of
Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...
and
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
, some other curiosities and some fine pictures. Sir Maurice and Lady Fitzgerald took over the property from the Throckmortons and lived there until his death in 1919 and hers in 1947. Visitors to the house during the Fitzgeralds' tenure included
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...
and Queen Mary, who had
objets d'art In art history, the French term objet d'art (; ) describes an ornamental work of art, and the term objets d’art describes a range of works of art, usually small and three-dimensional, made of high-quality materials, and a finely-rendered finish ...
stored in the basement during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Buckland House then passed to Major Richard Wellesley, grandson of Lady Fitzgerald. In 1962 Major Richard Wellesley advertised Buckland House in ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' for ''"£8 a week"''. In 1963, it became the location of an independent university college (University Hall, Buckland) requiring GCE
A-level The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...
passes for applicants and offering
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
external degrees in the arts. In 2004, motorcar driver Patrick McNally bought Buckland House and began a major restoration to its former glory.


Architectural history


Original house

The Throckmortons owned the Buckland estate since 1690, living in the manor house but it was Sir Robert Throckmorton, the fourth baronet of Coughton, who commissioned John Wood (the Elder) of Bath to design the new Buckland House as a shooting lodge and weekend retreat. John Wood, the Younger substantially revised the plan and added the distinctive octagonal pavilions to the sides of the house. The final house is illustrated in the 1767 volume of ''
Vitruvius Britannicus Colen Campbell (15 June 1676 – 13 September 1729) was a pioneering Scottish architect and architectural writer who played an important part in the development of the Georgian style. For most of his career, he resided in Italy and England. As ...
''. The house includes features such as marble fireplaces, exquisite mouldings, cornicing and painted ceilings. It is symmetrical and long passages lead to the two octagonal pavilions, used today as a library and dining room. 15 bedrooms were built into the house in total to hold both family and staff. It is rumoured that one of the bedrooms was designed as a copy of
Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...
's bedroom from Versaille. The saloon has Corinthian pilasters, bold cornices and well carved
festoon A festoon (from French ''feston'', Italian ''festone'', from a Late Latin ''festo'', originally a festal garland, Latin ''festum'', feast) is a wreath or garland hanging from two points, and in architecture typically a carved ornament depicti ...
s


1908 additions

The new owner engaged the architect W. H. Romaine-Walker to enlarge the property, addings wings on the north front to house a Billiard Room and a Royal Suite, rumoured to have been built to make the property large enough for
King Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria and ...
to visit. Additional rooms were added upstairs in the property too, taking the total number of bedrooms to 19. Finally, a rear
terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk a ...
was also added.


Major alterations and repairs

With the last planning permission on the property approved in 1993, the owners of Buckland House started applying for planning permission to improve the property: * August 2002 for restoration of
parterres A ''parterre'' is a part of a formal garden constructed on a level substrate, consisting of symmetrical patterns, made up by plant beds, plats, low hedges or coloured gravels, which are separated and connected by paths. Typically it was the ...
, formal pools, a long pool, a
ha-ha A ha-ha ( or ), also known as a sunk fence, blind fence, ditch and fence, deer wall, or foss, is a recessed landscape design element that creates a vertical barrier (particularly on one side) while preserving an uninterrupted view of the lan ...
wall, replacement planting, reinstatement of a drive and widening the existing drive. Also extensions to the lower ground to create additional garage facilities, a swimming pool and a squash court.: (Approved) * September 2002 for a
helicopter landing pad A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fabr ...
with an underground bunker and tunnel link to the house. (Approved) * March 2003 to make alterations. (Withdrawn) * March 2003 to change the use of the property from residential to a hotel along with alterations and extensions. (Refused) * April 2003 to change the use of the property from residential to a corporate headquarters. (Refused) * April 2003 to change the use of the property from residential to a nursing/mental home. (Refused) * June 2003 to make alterations, extensions and convert the property to be a
nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of older people, senior citizens, or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as care homes, skilled nursing facilities (SNF), or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms ...
. (Approved) * June 2003 to make alterations, extensions and convert the property to be a corporate headquarters. (Withdrawn) * January 2004 to change the use of the property from a residential property to an hotel. and make alterations and extensions. (Approved) * February 2005 to remove existing CCTV cameras and replace with smaller ones.: (Approved) * March 2005 to make alterations, extensions and refurbishment. (Approved) * April 2006 for alterations and refurbishment and an extension to underground parking.: (Approved) * December 2006 for retrospective permission for the erection of railings and gates. (Approved) * April 2007 for removal of existing railings and the erection of new railings and a timber fence. (Approved) * April 2008 for a new stone wall, car park provisions, demolition of entrance gates, new main and secondary gates, hard landscaping plus new security and livestock. (Approved) * 2004-2009 Complete internal restoration from complete full central heating to all rooms, complete rewire with state-of-the-art security and full restoration or replacement of all finer details, cornices, silk walls, gold leafed staircases, fireplaces etc.


Gardens

The entire landscape garden was designed by Richard Woods, a contemporary of
Capability Brown Lancelot "Capability" Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783) was an English gardener and landscape architect, a notable figure in the history of the English landscape garden style. Unlike other architects ...
. The lakes were designed to look like a part of the
River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...
and were joined with a small waterfall. During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century there was further landscaping and planting, supervised by Sir John Courtenay Throckmorton. In 1908 Romaine-Walker created the formal terrace on the north front as part of the broad redevelopment commissioned at that time. Lady Fitzgerald supervised the construction of a water garden with rock paths on the north side of the lake. The garden is occasionally open to the public under the NGS Gardens Open For Charity scheme with the entrance fee donated to the Richard Wellesley Memorial Transport fund.


Icehouse

An icehouse, also designed by Richard Woods, was sited halfway between the two lakes on a north facing slope behind the house. The
portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...
matches that of Buckland House. The icehouse is a cup and dome design, built partially underground and with a
thatched roof Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge ('' Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
, all to increase insulation. It was the subject of a local history article published on the BBC website. Estate workers would break ice from the pond with picks and saws, relay it to the shore and then quickly take it to the icehouse. Once there, it was packed hard to make maximum use of the interior. Throughout the year, manageable lumps of ice would be taken to the house, placed in ice-drawers in the kitchen
larder A larder is a cool area for storing food prior to use. Originally, it was where raw meat was larded—covered in fat—to be preserved. This method slowed spoilage by sealing out air, bacteria, and moisture. In colder larders (4°C/40°F or lower) ...
and then used for food preservation and making iced confections. This method enabled ice to be available through the summer months.


References

{{coord , 51.6816, -1.5089, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Georgian architecture in England Grade II* listed buildings in Oxfordshire History of Berkshire Country houses in Oxfordshire Grade II* listed houses Vale of White Horse