Caversham Court

Caversham Court
View of Caversham Court gardens and the River Thames
Location	Caversham, Berkshire, UK
Coordinates	51°28′05″N 0°58′48″W / 51.468°N 0.980°W / 51.468; -0.980Coordinates: 51°28′05″N 0°58′48″W / 51.468°N 0.980°W / 51.468; -0.980
Area	1.3 hectares (3.2 acres)
Owned by	Reading Borough Council
Website	Reading Borough Council page

Caversham Court is a public garden and was a mansion located on the north bank of the River Thames in Caversham, a suburb of Reading in the English county of Berkshire (formerly in Oxfordshire). The park lies within the St Peter's conservation area. The park is listed as Grade II in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

The medieval community of Caversham was clustered on the north side of Caversham Bridge to the east of St Peter's Church, which was built in the 12th century. Walter Giffard, the second Earl of Buckingham, donated the land for the church and neighbouring rectory, together with a considerable amount of land around it, to the Augustinian Abbey of Notley near Long Crendon in Buckinghamshire. They erected a small monastic cell there.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, these lands were given to Christchurch College, Oxford. Over the next four centuries, the Old Rectory, which became known as Caversham Court, was occupied by some of the most influential families in the Reading area, who both improved and enhanced the site.

A Tudor replacement for the original house was built around two courtyards. Its beautiful timber-framing led to its nickname of the Striped House. It had a 1638 staircase, with bullet holes from a Civil War attack, and an elaborate decorated plaster ceiling. Parts of both are preserved in the Museum of Reading. In the 1840s, the rectory and garden walls were rebuilt to a design by A W Pugin who gave the house a castellated facade with fretwork balustrading.