Buckland House

Buckland House is a large Georgian stately home and the manor house of Buckland in the Oxfordshire, England (formerly in Berkshire). It is a masterpiece of Palladian architecture erected by John Wood, the Younger for Sir Robert Throckmorton in 1757.

Buckland House stands with extensive grounds known as Buckland Park,[1] which includes gardens, a cricket ground and a 150 acres (61 ha)[2] deer park.[1] The previous manor house, Buckland Manor House, also stands in the park. Buckland House is a Grade II* listed building[3] in the Palladian style.[1] Nikolaus Pevsner described it as "the most splendid Georgian house in the Country",[4] It is rumoured that a ghost of a white lady haunts the house.[5]

Contents

Owners

In the mid 1750s Sir Robert Throckmorton had Buckland House build to replace his previous manor house. Following his death in 1791, Sir John Courtenay Throckmorton inherited the estate.[6] Between 1870-1872, it was said the house had relics of Mary, Queen of Scots and Charles I, some other curiosities and some fine pictures.[7] Sir Maurice and Lady Fitzgerald took over the property from the Throckmortons and lived there until 1947. Visitors to the house during the Fitzgeralds' tenure included Winston Churchill and Queen Mary, who had objets d'art stored in the basement during World War II.[1] Buckland House then passed to Major Richard Wellesley, grandson of Lady Fitzgerald[1] In 1962 Major Richard Wellesley advertised Buckland House in The Times for "£8 a week". In 1963, it became an independent university college (University Hall, Buckland) offering London External degrees.

In 2004 Patrick McNally, known from F1, bought Buckland House and began a major restoration to its former glory. This project is due to finish early 2009.

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,[6] who commissioned John Wood (the Elder) of Bath to design the new Buckland House[8] as a shooting lodge and weekend retreat.[9][10] 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.[8]

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 Antionette's bedroom from Versaille. The saloon has Corinthian pilasters, bold cornices and well carved festoons[1]

1908 Additions

The new owner engaged the architect W. H. Romaine-Walker[11] 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 to visit. Additional rooms were added upstairs in the property too, taking the total number of bedrooms to 19. Finally, a rear terrace was also added.[1]

Recent alterations

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[12]:

Gardens

The entire landscape garden was designed by Richard Woods,[10] a contemporary of Capability Brown. The lakes were designed to look like a part of the River Thames and were joined with a small waterfall.[9]

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century there was further landscaping and planting, supervised by Sir John Courtenay Throckmorton.[10]

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.[6]

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.[30]

Icehouse

An icehouse, also designed by Richard Woods, was sited half way between the two lakes on a north facing slope behind the house. The portico matches that of Buckland House. The icehouse is a cup and dome design, built partially underground and with a thatched roof, 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 and then used for food preservation and making iced confections. This method enabled ice to be available through the summer months.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Ford, David Nash (2001). "Buckland Park". Royal Berkshire History. http://www.berkshirehistory.com/castles/buckland_park.html. Retrieved 2008-09-19. 
  2. ^ Page, William; Ditchfield, PH (eds.) (1924). The Victoria History of the County of Berkshire Volume 4. St Catherine Press. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=62747. 
  3. ^ "UK Database of Historic Parks & Gardens: Buckland House". http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/arch/landscapes/ukpg/sites/buckland.htm. Retrieved 2008-09-20. 
  4. ^ Pevsner, Nicholas (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-071030-2. 
  5. ^ Ford, David Nash (2001). "Ghosts from Berkshire Places beginning with B". Royal Berkshire History. http://www.berkshirehistory.com/legends/ghosts_b.html. Retrieved 2008-09-19. 
  6. ^ a b c "Parks & Gardens UK: Buckland House, Oxfordshire/History". http://www.parksandgardens.ac.uk/component/option,com_parksandgardens/task,site/id,615/Itemid,292/. Retrieved 2008-09-20. 
  7. ^ "A Vision of Britain Through Time: Descriptive Gazetteer/Imperial Gazetteer Of England And Wales (1870-1872)". http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/gaztext_page.jsp?u_id=10201548&c_id=10001043. Retrieved 2008-09-20. 
  8. ^ a b "The Dovecote: History". http://the-dovecote.co.uk/history/history.html. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  9. ^ a b c "BBC: Legacies/Architectural Heritage/England/Oxford/Life Before The Freezer". http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/heritage/england/oxford/article_1.shtml. Retrieved 2008-09-20. 
  10. ^ a b c "Parks & Gardens UK: Buckland House, Oxfordshire/Summary". http://www.parksandgardens.ac.uk/component/option,com_parksandgardens/task,site/id,615/Itemid,292/. Retrieved 2008-09-20. 
  11. ^ "Parks & Gardens UK: Buckland House, Oxfordshire/Description". http://www.parksandgardens.ac.uk/component/option,com_parksandgardens/task,site/id,615/Itemid,292/. Retrieved 2008-09-20. 
  12. ^ a b "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 06/00539". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=IYFCF2BY7A000. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  13. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 02/01405". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=0201405FUL. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  14. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 02/01231". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=0201231FUL. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  15. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 02/01494". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=0201494FUL. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  16. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 03/00528". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=0300528LBC. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  17. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 03/00527". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=0300527COU. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  18. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 03/00552". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=0300552COU. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  19. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 03/00551". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=0300551COU. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  20. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 03/01040". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=HGSDXEBY41000. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  21. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 03/01041". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=HGSDIHBY41000. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  22. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 03/01039". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=HGSE64BY41000. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  23. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 04/00053". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=HRFLICBY41000. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  24. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 04/00054". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=HRFLATBY41000. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  25. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 05/00155". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=IBOW12BYU0000. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  26. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 05/00439". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=IEFEFLBYU0000. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  27. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 06/01903". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=JAJ3NNBY7A000. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  28. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 07/00524". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=JGA4RQBYDC000. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  29. ^ "Vale Of White Horse District Council Application Details 08/01322". http://planning.whitehorsedc.gov.uk/publicaccess/tdc/DcApplication/application_detailview.aspx?caseno=K5HPR9BY0CD00. Retrieved 2008-09-18. 
  30. ^ "NGS GardenFinder: Buckland Lakes". http://www.ngs.org.uk/GardenInfo.asp?mxnxoooaobokmzmumnmdmdmjmf. Retrieved 2008-09-20.