Manor House

Details

SF 5801 GARSINGTON SOUTHEND (West side) 11/54 Manor House 18/07/63 GV II* Manor House. Early C17, possibly earlier, re-modelled late C17 probably for the Wickham family. Coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings; old plain-tile roof and stone stacks with brick shafts. Double-pile plan. 2 storeys plus attics. Main range has symmetrical 7-window front (north). Central round-headed doorway with moulded architrave and plain key-block under wooden segmental hood supported on consoles has, each side, windows of 2, 3 and 2 leaded lights, all with concave-chamfered mullions and 4-centre arched heads, linked by a continuous label; similar arrangement above with central single-light window and no label; 3 rendered gabled roof-dormers with 3-light wooden casements. Roof rises from a stone eaves-cove and is flanked by massive stacks and gable parapets with console kneelers and ball finials. Lower 2- storey flanking wings, set flush, have similar 2-light windows at first floor, gable parapets to M-shaped roofs and are slightly later. Rear (south front) similar but with rows of 4 single lights flanked by 4-light windows at ground floor and by 3-light windows at first floor; 4 irregularly-spaced 2-light basement windows set in the plinth. Lower bay to left with similar windows of 3 and 4 lights is probably C18. One-storey C20 kitchen wing behind. East front includes a stone doorway with a rectangular moulded surround under an oval window. Roofs to main block surround a square lead flat with a central timber-framed stair turret under a tiled domed-pyramid roof. Interior: Right of entrance is former kitchen with a very wide fireplace under a 3-centred stone arch. Two C17 oak-panelled drawing-rooms with Tudor-arched moulded stone fireplaces; with heavily-moulded beams forming a 6-panel ceiling with a dentil frieze. Upstairs are further Tudor-arched fireplaces, several heavy door-frames with moulded chamfer-stops and 2 rooms with full height C18 fielded panelling and moulded cornices. C17 oak dog-leg stair rising to attics has heavy turned balusters and lantern pendants and finials. At ground floor the newel is continuous and forms an Ionic column flanked by 3-centred arches. Attached to the east wing on a walled terrace is a stone and tiled Italianate loggia of c.1920 by Philip Tylden for Philip and Lady Ottoline Morrell. The south-facing front has a raised centre of 3 arches on Doric columns flanked by terms set against rustic pilasters terminating in scrolls and stone pineapple finials; hipped roof behind parapet; 3 oval windows in rear wall. The stone-paved terrace is supported by a curving stone wall with a double flight of steps flanking a central niche with mask set over a stone basin. Right of the terrace is a pair of ashlar gatepiers with entablature and pineapple finials. Return wall to right has 2 shell niches with stone figures - a standing draped female and a nude male with lyre and quiver. D H Lawrence, Lytton Strachey , Aldous Huxley, Siegfried Sassoon and Bertrand Russell were all frequent visitors during the Morrells celebrated occupancy (1915 - 28). (V.C.H. Oxfordshire V, p.136; Buildings of England, Oxfordshire, pp611-2; R. Ingrams, Garsington Manor, (privately printed)

Listing NGR: SP5822001958

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

246442

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Salzman, L F, The Victoria History of the County of Oxford, (1957), 136
Pevsner, N, Sherwood, J, The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, (1974)

Other
Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England, Part 34 Oxfordshire

End of official list entry