Heythrop Hall

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Heythrop Hall is a seventeenth century house in Oxfordshire.

Contents 1 History 2 Heythrop College 3 Heythrop Park 4 References

[edit] History

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It was built by the architect Thomas Archer (1668–1743) on the commission of Charles Talbot, 1st Duke of Shrewsbury, who had acquired an enthusiasm for Roman architecture while travelling in Italy, and required the building to reflect the same style.The house suffered a very severe fire in the early C19th and was derelict for some time^{[citation needed]}

In 1870, the wealthy railway contractor Thomas Brassey purchased Heythrop Park, a baroque house situated in an estate of 450 acres (1.8 km²) 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Oxford as a wedding present for his third son, Albert (1840-1918).^[1] The hall was apparently sold circa 1926 by his son Robert Bingham Brassey, briefly a Member of Parliament for Banbury.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Heythrop College

From 1926 to 1970, Heythrop Hall served as a Jesuit college for philosophical and theological studies. The philosopher Frederick Copleston spent many years teaching at Heythrop College. When the college moved to London in 1970, it continued bearing the name of Heythrop College.

[edit] Heythrop Park

From 1969 to 1999 after the departure of the Jesuits, Heythrop Park was a private sector training and conference centre in the ownership of the National Westminster Bank group. With the change in clearing bank operations, Heythrop Park was sold in 1999 and now is part of Heythrop Park Hotel, owned and run by Firoz Kassam's company Firoka Ltd. Despite a protracted planning battle, in 2008, a very major programme of rebuilding and relandscaping of the grounds got underway. There is some doubt as to the eventual result, but no doubt time will tell.

[edit] References

1. ^ Stacey, p. 33; Pitman, Joanna (September 7, 1996), “A lavish Archer plot in the country with the mystery of a whale skeleton; Hidden Assets.”, Times: 29