Wytham Abbey Geograph-3504897-by-Dave-Price

Wytham Abbey is a privately-owned

Grade I listed 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 ...

historic

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 ...

situated in the village of

Wytham Wytham ( ) is a village and civil parish on the Seacourt Stream, a branch of the River Thames, about northwest of the centre of Oxford. It is just west of the Western By-Pass Road, part of the Oxford Ring Road ( A34). The nearest village is ...

, 3 miles (5 km) northwest of the centre of

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

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 ...

, near 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 ...

. The Abbey lies at the edge of

Wytham Woods Wytham Woods is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Oxford in Oxfordshire. It is a Nature Conservation Review site. Habitats in this site, which formerly belonged to Abingdon Abbey, include ancient woodland and limest ...

, an area of long-established English woodland and protected as a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

. Owned by the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, the woods are used for research in zoology and climate change. The abbey itself is owned by the Effective Ventures Foundation, along with 25 acres of grounds.

History

Wytham Abbey is the

of the small

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 ...

(historically

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 ...

) village of Wytham. The place-name is first recorded as ''Wihtham'' around 957 AD and is thought to come from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

for a homestead or village in a river-bend. This is perhaps the root of the present pronunciation of the name – ''“White-ham”''. Known as ‘Wytham House’ until about 1850, Wytham Abbey was built around 1480 and formed part of the extensive lands of the

Abbots of Abingdon The Abbot of Abingdon was the head (or abbot) of Anglo-Saxon and eventually Benedictine house of Abingdon Abbey at Abingdon-on-Thames in northern Berkshire (present-day Oxfordshire), England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, co ...

held since the 12th century. With the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the estate was sold to Sir Richard Harcourt and thereafter passed by marriage to the

Earls of Abingdon Earl of Abingdon is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 30 November 1682 for James Bertie, 5th Baron Norreys of Rycote. He was the eldest son of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey by his second marriage to Bridget, 4th Barones ...

. The 5th Earl made the Abbey his principal seat in the early 1800s and significantly remodelled the building in the Georgian era

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

style, which it retains today. The remodelling was undertaken by Thomas Cundy in 1809–10. In 1920, the 7th Earl sold the Abbey, along with the rest of the 2,500-acre estate, to Colonel Raymond ffennell, who subsequently bequeathed the whole to the

. In 1956, the University divided the Abbey into 14 apartments. Over the next three decades, however, the fabric gradually fell into disrepair, and in 1991 the house and grounds were offered for sale. A couple acquired the property and set about restoring the building and returning it to its historical use as a single-family home. They sold the house to the Effective Ventures Foundation in 2022. The foundation announced the planned sale of the Abbey in April 2024, and it was placed on the open market with a list price of £15M in May 2024. During its life to date, the Abbey has hosted many illustrious guests.

Queen Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudor. Her eventful reign, and its effect on history ...

visited the house as a princess, as did the young Princess Victoria, later Queen, some 300 years later. The Abbey has had its share of military visitors too, including

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

during the second siege of Oxford in 1646.

References

{{reflist Grade I listed houses in Oxfordshire Manor houses in England