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Unusually for my busy lifestyle Iv had an excellent month of exploring & have a backlog to get through so Ill start with this!
Tew Manor is essentially an empty manor house which dosent sound exciting, but my goodness it did it for me!
There are 2 (well 3) main features, the stairs, the great hall & an all to brief encounter to an archive room that we nearly missed.
Bit of history nicked from wiki here:-
Great Tew was settled in the Anglo-Saxon era. Ælfric of Abingdon held the manor of Great Tew by 990 and became Archbishop of Canterbury in 995. Ælfric died in 1005, leaving Great Tew to Saint Alban's Abbey. In 1049–52 the abbey leased Great Tew:
Sir Lawrence Tanfield, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, bought Great Tew estate in 1611 from Edward Rainsford. He deprived the villagers of timber, causing some of the cottages to fall into disrepair. Tanfield enclosed part of Great Tew's lands in 1622. However, most of the parish's common lands were not enclosed until Parliament passed an enclosure act for Great Tew in 1767.
After Tanfield died in 1626, followed by his wife Elizabeth in 1629, Great Tew passed to his young grandson Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland.
In the 1630s Lucius gathered together a Great Tew circle of writers and scholars, who included Abraham Cowley, Ben Jonson and Edmund Waller. During the English Civil War the young Viscount fought on the Royalist side and was killed in 1643 at the First Battle of Newbury. Great Tew remained in the Cary family until the death of Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount of Falkland in 1694.
As of 2014, the house was largely unoccupied and clad in scaffolding and plastic sheeting. It is a restoration project for the estate owners, the Johnston family, who reopened the local ironstone quarry in 2000.
In recent years the Great Tew Estate has hosted a series of events through the year, including the Cornbury Music Festival.
The explore
I had been here before but not managed to gain access as we turned up in the middle of the day & wandered around their lawns but were surprisingly unmolested, however this time we opted for the early morning approach!
Its worth mentioning the new manor stands just metres from this place & is absolutely stunning! in the early morning light we were greeted by red led illuminations from the new place that seemed to be some sort of led coat of arms "unbelievable". As most of u may know half the old manor is still lived in so stealth was needed here but it was the start of a great day!
IMG_5483 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
IMG_7355 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
Yes its one of those staircases!
IMG_5426 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
IMG_5423 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
IMG_5429 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
IMG_5435 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
IMG_5449 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
IMG_5453 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
IMG_5460 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
IMG_5457 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
IMG_5476 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
& heres what u may call a cooker!
IMG_5482 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
Then its into THAT hall
IMG_7331 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
Architecture is simply stunning in here!
IMG_5492 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
Fabric wall panels were awesome
IMG_5488 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
Finally we stumbled across the archive room
IMG_7343 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
IMG_7344 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
Was so much in here it was difficult to know what to look at, but this 1912 garage receipt was straight to the top of my list!
IMG_7351 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
Or maybe a telescope is more your thing?
IMG_7349 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
IMG_7352 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
Hope you enjoyed, heres just a few more!
IMG_5464 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
IMG_5445 by Bikin Glynn, on Flickr
Tew Manor is essentially an empty manor house which dosent sound exciting, but my goodness it did it for me!
There are 2 (well 3) main features, the stairs, the great hall & an all to brief encounter to an archive room that we nearly missed.
Bit of history nicked from wiki here:-
Great Tew was settled in the Anglo-Saxon era. Ælfric of Abingdon held the manor of Great Tew by 990 and became Archbishop of Canterbury in 995. Ælfric died in 1005, leaving Great Tew to Saint Alban's Abbey. In 1049–52 the abbey leased Great Tew:
Sir Lawrence Tanfield, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer, bought Great Tew estate in 1611 from Edward Rainsford. He deprived the villagers of timber, causing some of the cottages to fall into disrepair. Tanfield enclosed part of Great Tew's lands in 1622. However, most of the parish's common lands were not enclosed until Parliament passed an enclosure act for Great Tew in 1767.
After Tanfield died in 1626, followed by his wife Elizabeth in 1629, Great Tew passed to his young grandson Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland.
In the 1630s Lucius gathered together a Great Tew circle of writers and scholars, who included Abraham Cowley, Ben Jonson and Edmund Waller. During the English Civil War the young Viscount fought on the Royalist side and was killed in 1643 at the First Battle of Newbury. Great Tew remained in the Cary family until the death of Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount of Falkland in 1694.
As of 2014, the house was largely unoccupied and clad in scaffolding and plastic sheeting. It is a restoration project for the estate owners, the Johnston family, who reopened the local ironstone quarry in 2000.
In recent years the Great Tew Estate has hosted a series of events through the year, including the Cornbury Music Festival.
The explore
I had been here before but not managed to gain access as we turned up in the middle of the day & wandered around their lawns but were surprisingly unmolested, however this time we opted for the early morning approach!
Its worth mentioning the new manor stands just metres from this place & is absolutely stunning! in the early morning light we were greeted by red led illuminations from the new place that seemed to be some sort of led coat of arms "unbelievable". As most of u may know half the old manor is still lived in so stealth was needed here but it was the start of a great day!
Yes its one of those staircases!
& heres what u may call a cooker!
Then its into THAT hall
Architecture is simply stunning in here!
Fabric wall panels were awesome
Finally we stumbled across the archive room
Was so much in here it was difficult to know what to look at, but this 1912 garage receipt was straight to the top of my list!
Or maybe a telescope is more your thing?
Hope you enjoyed, heres just a few more!
