Stonor Park

Coordinates: 51°35′47″N 0°55′46″W / 51.596490°N 0.929315°W / 51.596490; -0.929315
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Stonor Park
View of Stonor House from the south
LocationStonor, about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, England
Coordinates51°35′47″N 0°55′46″W / 51.596490°N 0.929315°W / 51.596490; -0.929315
Built13th century onwards
Stonor Park is located in Oxfordshire
Stonor Park
Location of Stonor Park in Oxfordshire

Stonor Park is a historic country house and private deer park situated in a valley in the Chiltern Hills at Stonor, about four miles (6.4 km) north of Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, England, close to the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. The house has a 12th-century private chapel. The remains of a prehistoric stone circle are in the grounds. It is the ancestral home and seat of the Stonor family, Baron Camoys. The current Lord Camoys is William Stonor.

Setting

The house nestles in the

Italianate style on a rising slope, providing good views. Around the house is a park with a herd of fallow deer
. Around the park are Almshill Wood, Balham's Wood and Kildridge Wood. The house and garden are open to the public.

History

Stonor House from the Deer Park (stone circle visible on the right)
Stonor Deer Park

Stonor House has been the home of the Stonor family for more than eight centuries. In the house are displays of family portraits, tapestries, bronzes and ceramics. The house has a 12th-century private chapel built of flint and stone, with an early brick tower.

The house was probably begun after 1280, when Sir Richard Stonor (1250–1314) married his second wife, Margaret Harnhull.[1]

During and after the

Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, used Stonor Park as his headquarters.[2]

The Stonor family's steadfast adherence to

Roman Catholicism throughout the reformation led to their marginalisation and relative impoverishment in subsequent centuries. This has inadvertently resulted in the preservation of the house in a relative unspoiled and unimproved state.[1]

Stone circle

The house was built on the site of a prehistoric stone circle or henge and this has given it its name. The remains of the circle are still visible with one stone incorporated into the south-east corner of the chapel. The stones are a mixture of sarsens and puddingstone.[3] The current stone positions are the result of re-positioning during 17th-century landscaping and 20th-century reconstruction.[4] The site is listed as a folly in the Sites and Monuments Record (SMR) (PRN 2064)).[5]

Media appearances

Stonor has been used as a

A Christmas Carol (2019), and Antiques Roadshow (2020).[7]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ .
  2. ^ a b Lobel, 1964, pages 98–115.
  3. ^ Stonor stone circle Archived 2012-06-16 at the Wayback Machine Stonor estate website. Accessed April 2012.
  4. ^ Country Life article, May 7, 1981
  5. ^ Stonor Park Stone Circle filed otes County Sites and Monuments Record Officer, Central Library, Westgate, Oxford OX1 1DJ. Accessed April 2012.
  6. ^ Danny, the Champion of the World
  7. bbc.co.uk
    . 7 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.

External links