Shotover Park
| Shotover Park | |
|---|---|
.jpg)
Aerial view of Shotover Park, with the two large ponds in the foreground
|
|
 Location within Oxfordshire
|
|
| General information | |
| Type | Country house |
| Architectural style | Georgian |
| Location | Wheatley, Oxfordshire |
| Coordinates | 51°45′22″N 1°09′18″W / 51.756071°N 1.155129°WCoordinates: 51°45′22″N 1°09′18″W / 51.756071°N 1.155129°W |
| Current tenants | Alexander James Sinnott Stanier |
| Completed | c. 1714-20 |
| Renovated | 1855 |
| Client | James Tyrrell, Gen. James Tyrrell |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | William Townsend (possibly) |
| Renovating team | |
| Architect | Joshua Sims |
|
Listed Building – Grade I
|
|
| Designated | 18 July 1963 |
| Reference no. | 1284986 |
Shotover Park (also called Shotover House) is an 18th-century country house and park in Wheatley, Oxfordshire, England. The house, garden and park are Grade I-listed with English Heritage, and 18 additional structures on the property are also listed. The house is privately owned; the surrounding parkland is open to the public as Shotover Country Park.
The source of the name Shotover is uncertain. It is believed to come from Château Vert ("Green Castle"), a French Norman Royal hunting lodge on the site. Novelist Robert Graves was a proponent of this theory, mentioning it in his classic book A Wife for Mr Milton. Another alternative is the Old English Scoet Ofer ("steep slope"), and could take its name from Shotover Hill, 3 miles (4.8 km) to the east of Oxford, which rises to 557 feet (170 m) above sea level.
In the Domesday Book of 1068, it was identified as Scotorne. Up through the 13th century, patent rolls of King John and Henry III refer to Shotover variously as Scotore, Shotore, Shothore, and Shottovere.
The land encompassing Shotover Park was part of the Wychwood royal forest as far back as the Domesday Book. There was an "ancient" house on the site, celebrated as the location that Queen Elizabeth I selected for her reception to close her visit to Oxford in 1566. Oxford orator Roger Marbeck delivered a speech about Oxford University and the queen's valuable support for the university. The queen is recorded as saying upon her departure from Shotover, "Farewell the learned University of Oxford, farewell my good subjects there, farewell my dear scholars; and pray God prosper your studies."
...
Wikipedia