Oakley Court

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Oakley Court, once owned by Otho FitzGerald, and now a hotel

Oakley Court is a Victorian Gothic country house set in 35 acres overlooking the River Thames at Water Oakley in the civil parish of Bray in the English county of Berkshire. It was built in 1859 and is currently a luxury hotel.

[edit] Film set

Because it adjoins Bray Studios, Oakley Court was used in the filming of a number of films. It is particularly well known as St Trinian's School from the St Trinian's series and for its appearances in several Hammer horror films, such as The Reptile (1966) and The Plague of the Zombies (1966), and was also used as the setting for regular Hammer director Freddie Francis' independent project Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly. It is, perhaps, best known as the location for Dr. Frank N Furter's castle in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). It was also used for a cult independent horror film called Vampyres (1974).

[edit] History

The Court was built in 1859 for Sir Richard Hall Say who married Ellen Evans of Boveney Court in 1857. He was appointed High Sheriff of Berkshire in 1864 and Justice of the Peace in 1865.

In 1874 Oakley Court was sold to Lord Otho Fitzgerald, then to a John Lewis Phipps and in 1900 to Sir William Avery of Avery Scales. In 1919 Ernest Olivier purchased the property together with 50 acres of Berkshire woodland for £27,000. He was a very eccentric character who frequently entertained foreign diplomats and as a courteous gesture flew the flag of the nation they represented on the original flagpole, which still stands today. The Court was used during the last war as the English headquarters for the French Resistance and President Charles De Gaulle is said to have stayed in one of the bedrooms.