Greys Court

Greys Court is a Tudor country house and gardens in the southern Chiltern Hills at Rotherfield Greys, near Henley-on-Thames in the county of Oxfordshire, England.^[1] Now owned by the National Trust, it is located at grid reference SU725834, and is open to the public.

Overview

As Redrefield it was the principal manor of the six manors held in 1086 (as listed in the Domesday Book)^[2] by the Norman knight Anchetil de Greye (c.1052- post-1086), ancestor of the prominent Grey family.^[2]

The mainly Tudor-style house has a courtyard and gardens. The walled gardens contain old-fashioned roses and wisteria, an ornamental vegetable garden, maze (laid to grass with brick paths, dedicated by Archbishop Robert Runcie on 12 October 1981) and ice house. Within its grounds are the fortified tower built circa 1347, the only remains of the medieval castle, overlooking the gardens and surrounding countryside, as well as a Tudor wheelhouse.^{[citation needed]}

The house remains furnished as a family home, with some outstanding 18th-century plasterwork interiors. It is a Grade I listed building.^[3]

History

John de Grey, 1st Baron Grey de Rotherfield, one of the original founder Knights of the Garter, was granted a license to crenellate his Rotherfield house in 1346, when he also considerably enlarged the group of buildings and added a castle around 1347. The estate passed to the Crown in 1485 and was granted to Robert Knollys in 1514 for an annual rental of a red rose, remaining in the Knollys family until 1642, during which time the current house and its associated buildings were constructed.^{[citation needed]}

Sir William Paul bought the house in 1686 and it passed via his son William's daughter's dowry to Sir William Stapleton, 4th Baronet in 1724.^{[citation needed]}

Between 1935 and 1937 the house was occupied by Evelyn Fleming, mother of the author Ian Fleming.^[4]

In 1937 the house was bought from the Stapletons by Sir Felix Brunner and his wife Lady Brunner (née Elizabeth Irving), the granddaughter of the Victorian actor-manager Sir Henry Irving. In 1969 the family donated the property to the National Trust, where Lady Brunner continued to live until her death in 2003.

Filming location

The house has been used as a filming location for Downton Abbey,^[5] Agatha Christie's Poirot,^[6] and Midsomer Murders.^[7]^[8]

References

^ "Grey's Court", TripAdvisor, UK, archived from the original on 19 September 2015, retrieved 29 August 2015
^ ^a ^b Roy Martin Haines, « Grey, John de (d. 1214) », Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.
^ Historic England. "Grey's Court, Rotherfield Greys (1181202)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
^ "Greys Court". Chilterns Conservation Board. Retrieved 13 March 2019.
^ "Greys Court lands starring role". Henley Standard. Higgs Group. 17 September 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
^ Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013): Elephants Can Remember at IMDb
^ Street, Joan. "A SACRED TRUST: Series 14, Episode 7". Midsomer Murders. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
^ "Midsomer Murders: Complete Series 14". ACORN. Acorn DVD. Retrieved 14 April 2018.

External links

Greys Court information from the National Trust
Greys Court on Twitter
Information from Culture24
A bird's-eye view of Greys Court Rotherfield Greys in the 17th or 18th century from Scran
AboutBritain.com information
TourUK information
Gardens-Guide information
Photos of Greys Court, Oxfordshire, petergoodearl.co.uk
Castles Abbeys and Medieval Buildings information by Michael W. Cook

51°32′41″N 0°57′21″W / 51.54485°N 0.95591°W / 51.54485; -0.95591

[1] "Grey's Court", TripAdvisor, UK, archived from the original on 19 September 2015, retrieved 29 August 2015

[JGray-2] Roy Martin Haines, « Grey, John de (d. 1214) », Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004.

[3] Historic England. "Grey's Court, Rotherfield Greys (1181202)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 March 2019.

[4] "Greys Court". Chilterns Conservation Board. Retrieved 13 March 2019.

[5] "Greys Court lands starring role". Henley Standard. Higgs Group. 17 September 2012. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.

[6] Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989–2013): Elephants Can Remember at IMDb

[7] Street, Joan. "A SACRED TRUST: Series 14, Episode 7". Midsomer Murders. Retrieved 14 April 2018.

[8] "Midsomer Murders: Complete Series 14". ACORN. Acorn DVD. Retrieved 14 April 2018.

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v t e Museums and galleries in Oxfordshire
City of Oxford	Ashmolean Museum Bate Collection of Musical Instruments Christ Church Picture Gallery Modern Art Oxford Museum of the History of Science Museum of Oxford Oxford University Press Museum University of Oxford Botanic Garden Oxford Castle Oxford University Museum of Natural History Pitt Rivers Museum Science Oxford The Story Museum
Region	Abingdon County Hall Museum Ashdown House Aston Martin Heritage Trust Museum Banbury Museum Benson Veteran Cycle Museum Blenheim Palace Bloxham Village Museum Broughton Castle Burford Tolsey Museum Buscot Park Bygones Museum Champs Chapel Museum of East Hendred Charlbury Museum Chastleton House Chipping Norton Museum Churchill and Sarsden Heritage Centre Cogges Manor Farm Combe Mill Didcot Railway Centre Dorchester Abbey Museum Greys Court Hook Norton Brewery Museum Hook Norton Village Museum Kelmscott Manor Mapledurham House Mapledurham Watermill Oxford Bus Museum Oxfordshire Museums Resource Centre The Oxfordshire Museum Pendon Museum Project Timescape River and Rowing Museum Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum Stonor Park Swalcliffe Barn Swinford Museum Thame Museum Tom Brown's School Museum Vale and Downland Museum Wallingford Museum Waterperry Museum of Rural Life Witney and District Museum
Organisations	Oxfordshire Museums Council