Shirburn Castle
Shirburn Castle is a country house and a former castle in the village Shirburn , about 10 km south of the market Thame in the English county of Oxfordshire . The 14th century castle was the seat of the Earls of Macclesfield .
history
The castle is believed to have been designed by Henry Yevele for Warin de Lisle in 1377.
In 1716, Thomas Parker, 1st Earl of Macclesfield bought it , had it rebuilt and set up a large library. His son, George Parker, 2nd Earl of Macclesfield , (ca. 1695–1764), a famous astronomer , made most of his astronomical observations at Shirburn Castle. He had an observatory and a chemical laboratory built, which he used from 1740. In 1761 the astronomer Thomas Hornsby observed the Venus transit from the grounds of Shirburn Castle. However, the observatory was later demolished.
Around 1830 the castle was converted into a country house. A salon and a library were added on the north side and the old library was converted into a billiard room. The old dining room on the east side became a bedroom and dressing room. In 1873 a smoking room was set up in the north-west tower.
The Macclesfield Psalter was discovered at Shirburn Castle in 2004 when the contents of the library were cataloged for auction.
Today the property is owned by the Beechwood Estates Company , which manages the estates of the Earls of Macclesfield. After a long and bitter court battle, Richard Parker, 9th Earl of Macclesfield, was evicted from the family seat in late 2004.
construction
The castle has a square floor plan and four round corner towers. It is built from bricks , making it one of the earliest brick structures in Oxfordshire. The middle of the west facade, a high entrance tower, is clad in chalk and limestone . It is flanked by originally two-story side wings, which were raised to three floors in the 18th century. A drawbridge leads to the 19th century entrance stairs.
Originally the castle was built in the early Perpendicular (English Gothic ) style . It was later redesigned in the Georgian style . At the beginning of the 19th century there was another redesign in the neo-Gothic style .
In television
Shirburn Castle served as the seat of the Balcombe family in the episode "Happy Families" of the television series Inspector Morse, Oxford Homicide Squad . The exterior shots were filmed there. The property was also seen as Midsomer Priory in the television series Inspector Barnaby .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Shirburn Castle . Historic England. English Heritage. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
- ^ Elisabeth Hill: Roger Boscovich: A biographical essay . P. 41. 1961. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
- ^ Neutral Citation Number: [2003 & # 93 . EWHC 1846 (Ch) . Retrieved August 29, 2016.
- ↑ Inspector Morse: Happy families episode . IMDB. Retrieved August 29, 2016.
literature
- Nikolaus Pevsner: Buildings of England . Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1974. ISBN 0-14-071045-0 . Chapter: Oxfordshire . Pp. 761-763.
- Sir James Dixon Mackenzie: The Castles of England: Their Story and Structure . Volume I. The Macmillan Co., Harvard 1896.
Web links
Coordinates: 51 ° 39 '27.3 " N , 0 ° 59' 37.7" W.