Mapledurham House

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Coordinates: 51 ° 29 '7 "  N , 1 ° 2' 7.2"  W.

Mapledurham House

Mapledurham House is a country house near Mapledurham in Oxfordshire .

history

A mansion was recorded on the site of Mapledurham House as early as the time of the Domesday Book . This house belonged to William de Warrene and came by marriage to Gerard de Gournay, from whom it came to the Bardolf family in 1270. After the death of the last male descendant of the Bardolf family, the house was sold to Richard Blount of Iver in 1490. It has been owned by the Blount family ever since.

Richard Blount's grandson began building a new country house, which was not completed by his son until 1612. The Blounts fought on the king's side during the English Civil War and the house was besieged and looted by parliamentary troops.

Ludolf Blount's daughters Theresa and Martha were both close friends of the poet Alexander Pope , who was a frequent visitor and when Martha died, he left numerous things that are on display in the house today.

At the end of the 18th century, a small chapel was built into the Gothic-style Strawberry Hill house , and various interior decorations were made over the course of the 19th century.

St Margaret's Church

St Margaret's Church

At the house, but with its own entrance, is St Margaret's Church, built in the 14th century, which replaced an older chapel that had stood here since the Norman Conquest . The interior of the church was remodeled in 1863 by the architect William Butterfield . The graves of Richard Blount and his wife Cecily and a plaque commemorating Robert Bardolf are in the church.

Mapledurham Watermill

The Mapledurham Watermill , a restored water mill from the 15th century , is on the site of the house, which borders the Thames .

Representation in the literature

Artist Ernest Shepard , who illustrated The Wind in the Willows , often drew in the area and Toad Hall is believed to be based on either Mapledurham House or the nearby Hardwick House .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jennifer Sherwood, Nikolaus Pevsner : The Buildings of England . Oxfordshire. Penguin Books, 1974, ISBN 0-14-071045-0 , pp. 693-694 .
  2. ↑ Paul Goldsack: River Thames . In the footsteps of the famous. Bradt, Bucks 2003, ISBN 1-84162-044-0 .

Web links

Commons : Mapledurham House  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files