Welford Park

Welford Park is a country house and estate in the village of Welford in the English county of Berkshire, situated 5.2 miles northwest of Newbury and 10.9 miles south of Wantage. Whilst of some historical significance, the estate is perhaps best known for its displays of snowdrops in early Spring, and for being the location of BBC One's The Great British Bake Off since 2014.

The church of Welford St Gregory, one of only two existing round-tower churches in Berkshire, is located adjacent to the house. The various chalk streams that make up the River Lambourn flow through the grounds.

Welford Park is built on the site of a monastic grange that belonged to Abingdon Abbey from Anglo-Saxon times. After the dissolution of the monasteries, King Henry VIII used the site for a hunting lodge. Later it was granted to Sir Thomas Parry, Comptroller of the Household by Queen Elizabeth I. It was his main residence, but his son moved the family to Hamstead Marshall. Welford was then used as a dower house for his mother, who is buried in the adjoining church.

The existing house dates from about 1652 and was built by John Jackson of Oxford for Richard Jones, the grandson of Sir Francis Jones, Lord Mayor of London in 1620, who had purchased the property in 1618. Jones died with no male heir and his daughter Mary married John Archer in 1680. The house was remodelled by their son-in-law, the architect Thomas Archer (no relation), about 1700, which resulted in an additional storey and a facade decorated with ionic columns. The interior was again altered in 1840.

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