I finally had the chance to tour the the lovely Stonor House, a grand home that has been in the Stonor family since 1150. It is set in a lovely valley in the Chiltern Hills, not far from Henley-on-Thames and Nettlebed. The grounds have a large deer park with mature beech trees, woodlands, spectacular gardens, and fabulous walking trails. My photos don't do justice to the beauty of this place - in part because it was raining the whole time, and in part because my camera broke so I had to use my iPhone.
Stonor House is unusual for a Oxfordshire manor home in that it's uniform facade of is of Tudor brick rather than the usual golden stone of most grand homes. But, like all houses that are nearly 900 year old, it is a hodgepodge of various styles from the 12th to the 18th centuries, including an early 19th century library, 18th century gothic revival hall, as well as the remains of the 13th century aisled hall.
Since the home is still the residence of the current Stonor family, I think the 6th Baron and Baroness Camoys, only part of the house is open to the public, and no photography is allowed inside the house. You can see some of rooms that are open to the public if you click here.
The gardens behind the house are beautiful and so well maintained. They were first laid out in 1480. They evolved into a 18th century pleasure garden built into the hill. You can walk through one of the gates into an arboretum that is filled with stunning beech trees that must be at least 500 years old.
Interspersed throughout the formal garden are lovely old fruit trees just laden with fruit. I'd love to come back in a month and help with the harvest.
From the Stonor House website: "The fortunes of the house and chapel are strongly tied to the travails of the Catholics in Britain. When Henry VIII formed the Church of England in the 1530s Catholics, including the Stonor family were forced to take a much reduced part in public life. Crippling fines were levied and many were persecuted and forced to go into hiding.
At Stonor there is a poignant reminder of these times in the roof space and priest hole where Sir Edmund Campion hid whilst printing the famous Ten Reasons’ pamphlet in the 1580s."
A bird's nest mixed in with the water lilies
The house chapel was built in the late 13th century next to a neolithic stone circle. Thankfully, instead of tearing down the circle, they built around the henge even incorporating one of the stones as a corner stone for the 14th century catholic chapel. I did learn, though, that many of the stones have been toppled over the centuries and that the circle has been reconstructed.
Without a telephoto lens, I couldn't capture a good picture of the rather large heard of Fallow Deer on the top of this hill. The deer seem quite tame and are very much a part of the grounds.
The late 13th century Catholic chapel is made of flint stone, as are a number of the walls that surround the gardens. I love this unique combination of brick and flint.
Also on the grounds is a wonderfully designed play area for kids of all ages, called Wonder Woods.
One of the most surprising things I discovered inside Stonor home was a hallway with the walls covered with paintings, prints and maps of Newport, Rhode Island. It turns out that Nadine Pepys was the daughter of of the 5th Baron and Baroness Camoys and was born at Stonor House. She was one of the founders of Operation Clapboard, a Newport-based organization that saved nearly 40 historic buildings and raised awareness of the historical and cultural value of the homes of Newport, RI. Below is Nadine's obituary.
The Hon. Nadine Pepys, formerly of Newport, Rhode Island and Brightling, Sussex, died 26 January, 2005, after a short illness. She was born in 1917 as the Hon. Pamela Sophia Nadine Stonor, daughter of the 5th Baron Camoys (1884-1968), of Stonor Park, Oxfordshire, by his wife Mildred (d. 1961), daughter of William Watts Sherman, of New York. She married in 1941, Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Donald Leslie (Tom) Pepys b. 1909, King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry, deceased, a great-grandson of the 1st Earl of Cottenham. No children of the marriage.
The other surprise was seeing a "Slipper Bath". I had read descriptions of these types of bathtubs but had never seen one, at least not like this one. A slipper bath is an iconic style of bathtub that originated in the Victorian era, when bathing and cleanliness were acknowledged as easy ways to improve health and reduce disease.
The slipper baths were initially found in washhouses and bathhouses, where the working classes could finally bathe alone with either hot or cold water.
Traditionally, the bath has one end deeper than the other, with the taps located at the shallower end to give the bather space to relax at the other. This also affords them a certain amount of privacy, which was very useful when they were found in public washhouses, and kept the water warmer for longer.
