OCNTSadly, the OCNT Committee has been obliged to put a Resolution to our AGM on 17 March as follows:
“RESOLVED that given the lack of candidates for key Executive Committee positions to run the OCNT fully and effectively, the OCNT shall close completely from 30 April 2026 and that the current Executive Committee shall continue in role until the OCNT has closed.”
The AGM will be held at 10.45am on 17 March 2026 in the Auditorium at Magdalen College. All Members will be welcome to attend.
Oxford Centre is looking for new Officers to take over from the current Treasurer, Membership Secretary and Newsletter Editor in March 2026, at our AGM. Come and join our friendly Committee!
If you have the ability to maintain simple spreadsheets of income and expenditure, you could be our next Treasurer! You could help monitor our bank balance so that at the end of the year we have a surplus to donate for projects at local Trust properties.
Our Membership Secretary maintains our confidential Database as an Excel file, recording new members’ details, and payments of subscriptions at the start of the year.
The Newsletter Editor needs to have a computer or laptop at home. The current Newsletter and Booking Forms are produced entirely in Microsoft Word so all you need is a familiarity with this or a similar package. 3 Newsletters a year are sent to members.
For further details of these voluntary posts, please see November 2025 Newsletter, pages 7 and 8, and July 2025 Newsletter, pages 5 and 6.
Wimpole is a working estate set in acres of parkland. It has an impressive 17th-century mansion, walled kitchen garden, parterre, pleasure grounds and a rare-breeds farm, including Shire horses. There was a lot to look at, and pleasant walks in the grounds.
In the house there are lavish Georgian interiors (including Soane’s Yellow Drawing Room) intimate family rooms, the large library and ‘life below stairs’ in the basement.
Over the summer and autumn we enjoyed three visits. While the day at Baddesley Clinton was unfortunately rather damp, there was fine weather for the trip to Beaulieu through the lovely New Forest where the ponies were out in force, and there was warm sunshine for the visit to see the spectacular autumn colours at Sheffield Park and enjoy walks around the lakes.
We donate funds to local National Trust properties at the end of each year, to support projects and needs. At the end of 2024 the Oxford Centre of the National Trust donated a total of £6,000 to the National Trust for projects at local properties, including £2,000 to Nuffield Place for repairs to BUD, Lady Nuffield’s car, a 1946 Wolsey Eight, kept in the garage next to the house.
We also donated £1,500 to Cliveden for redevelopment of the Long Garden, including laying a central walkway of flagstones, replanting the herbacious beds and replacing the box hedges with young yew plants.
Our other donations went to Basildon Park for Conservation Blinds, Greys Court for workshop equipment, a further £335 to Cliveden for an All Terrain Wheelchair and £615 to Hughenden for work in their Parkland.
At the end of 2023 we donated £1,000 to Nuffield Place for picnic benches, £500 to Chastleton for park fencing, and £500 to Coleshill Estate for tree planting equipment.
To thank us, OCNT Committee was invited to send representatives to a tea party in September for local Supporter Groups who had donated to the West Oxfordshire Portfolio, namely Chastleton and Coleshill. It was held at Chastleton, and we were able to inspect the new railings that we had paid for around the parkland. We were also invited to view the newly replanted gardens around the house, with a guided tour by Head Gardener Rosy Sutton. Afterwards we were served scones with jam and cream in the Brewhouse! Many thanks to our host General Manager Christian Walker.
Our new programme of activities for winter 2024 is available in the November newsletter for Members and is listed in greater detail in our Events Calendar on this website. This includes a New Year lunch, informal coffee mornings and monthly lectures in our winter lecture series until March 2025.
In our winter series, between October and March, there will be 4 lectures at Magdalen College Auditorium, and 2 lectures available to members via Zoom. Non-members are welcome at our lectures at Magdalen Auditorium. For more details, see Lectures.
9 – 15 December: Zoom lecture for members
Saving Country Houses with speaker Ben Cowell, Director General of Historic Houses
The organisation Historic Houses was created over 50 years ago in part to put the collected efforts of independent owners and custodians on a par with institutions such as the National Trust.
13–19 January 2025: Zoom lecture for members
Shells, Curtains and Doll Houses: the challenges of paper conservation within the National Trust
Nicola Walker, Senior National Conservator, Paper & Photography at the National Trust, will describe the wide variety of objects she encounters, including portrait miniatures, parchment documents, globes and fans.
18 February 2025, at Magdalen College Auditorium, Longwall St at 11am
The Happy Journey: the ffennells of Wytham
Local historian Mervyn Hughes has researched for over ten years the ffennell family of Wytham and the history of Hill End Centre and the trenches in Wytham Wood.
18 March 2025, AGM at 10.45 followed by a Lecture at Magdalen College Auditorium
The Stephen A Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities
We are delighted to welcome Professor William Whyte, architectural historian, fellow of St John’s College, Chair of Oxford Preservation Trust, who is currently responsible for the building of the new Centre for the Humanities. The largest single building project in the University’s history, the new Humanities Centre is the outcome of the largest single gift ever given to Oxford.
Our informal coffee mornings continue on the last Tuesday of most months from 10.30am to 11.45am at a Café in central Oxford.
This is a chance for members and those interested in joining Oxford Centre to make friends and exchange experiences and news. See Events Calendar for details of venues.
Wednesday, 15 January 2025: LUNCH AT BROWNS, 5–11 Woodstock Rd
In January we are returning to Brown’s for the second year for a New Year lunch to help brighten the winter days. Booking required by members by 16 December: for a booking form with menu choices contact oxfordcnt@gmail.com.
Our new programme of activities for autumn and winter 2024 is available in the July newsletter for Members and is listed in greater detail in our Events Calendar on this website. This includes coach outings, informal coffee mornings and the first lectures of our winter lecture series in October to December.
For more information, see Visits.
Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire – 8 August
An atmospheric moated medieval manor house given to the National Trust in 1980. The history of the house includes tales of how the priests’ holes sheltered Catholic priests in the 15th century.
The bridge over the moat leads via a gatehouse to a pretty courtyard and into the great hall.
In the gardens there are medieval fishponds, a lakeside walk, a walled garden and an orchard.
Beaulieu Abbey, Gardens and Motor Museum – 24 September
The 800 year old Abbey was founded by King John in the 13th Century before being destroyed on the orders of King Henry VIII in 1538. It is now a conserved ruin in a peaceful setting which visitors can enjoy.
The world famous motor museum contains 285 vehicles, and there is a veteran London open-topped bus and a monorail to take you around the grounds.
There is something to suit everyone in this day out!
Sheffield Park and Garden, East Sussex – 16 October
The garden is a horticultural work of art, formed through centuries of landscape design, with influences of Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton. The vast collection of trees and large shrubs are planted around 4 lakes to create vistas that enhance the feeling of grandeur. The garden was purchased in 1954 by the National Trust but the house passed into private ownership. It took many years to restore the grounds to their former glory.
Sheffield Wood has a mosaic of different habitats: conifer woods, broadleaf woods, coppice hornbeam, open rides and glades, all vital for wildlife.
In our winter series, between October and March, there will be 4 lectures at Magdalen College Auditorium, and 2 lectures available to members via Zoom. Non-members are welcome at our lectures at Magdalen Auditorium. For more details, see Lectures.
22 October at Magdalen Auditorium: Sharing stories of caring for our National Trust gardens and plant collections with Pam Smith, Senior National Consultant for Gardens and Parklands at the National Trust
NB This is a change to the lecture published in our Newsletter. Professor Whyte will now be talking to us in March.
19 November at Magdalen Auditorium: Histories of Childhood: uncovering new heritage narratives with historians of modern British history, Dr Gillian Lamb and Professor Siân Pooley
9 – 15 December via Zoom link: Saving Country Houses with speaker Ben Cowell, Director General of Historic Houses
Our informal coffee mornings continue on the last Tuesday of most months from 10.30am to 11.45am at a Café in central Oxford. This is a chance for members and those interested in joining Oxford Centre to make friends and exchange experiences and news. See Events Calendar for details of venues.
Winter lunch
In January 2024, over 30 members enjoyed lunch at Brown’s Restaurant in Oxford, a welcome chance to meet up after the Christmas and New Year Festivities were over. We plan to arrange another lunch in New Year 2025.
It was a fine day for the Oxford Centre’s visit to Worcester on 18 June. Our time was divided between National Trust properties Greyfriars House and Garden and The Commandery with informative guided tours at both. Greyfriars is a medieval timbered merchant’s house, which was saved from demolition in the 1930s and lovingly restored, often with recycled materials, by siblings Elsie and Matley Moore, and handed to the Trust in 1966. The Commandery is most famous for being the Royalist Headquarters during the deciding battle of the English Civil War – the Battle of Worcester 1651 – and includes much memorabilia from this period. Built on the site of an early medieval chapel, The Commandery has also been a monastic hospital, family home, school for the blind, and the location of the Littlebury Printworks, before becoming today’s museum revealing significant stories of the city’s history. A very interesting day enjoyed by all!
The last two walks of the season were very different! Our visit to Nuffield Place in May was on a very wet day, with only four of us present. We were due to walk through the woods and along part of the Ridgeway path near Nuffield village, after a briefing about the history of Lady Nuffield’s restored garden. However, the House Manager, Steven, took pity on us and invited us to an indoor tour of the House in the dry, which we enjoyed very much. It was still raining when we had our very interesting guided garden tour with volunteer Gill from under umbrellas! We abandoned any idea of walking beyond the café across the road.
Our June walk was on White Horse Hill near Uffington, when we were much luckier with the weather, as after early rain it cleared and we had sunshine for exploring up the hill with National Trust Ranger Andy who told us fascinating facts about the history, geology, flora and fauna. We were able to go close to the white chalk lines of the horse on the hillside, finding out how they would be cleaned and rechalked at the end of June. At the highest point of Uffington Castle we could see 360 degrees to the horizon in seven counties!
Unfortunately, these were the last walks for our Walking Group, as we regret that Jonathan Anelay has stepped back as the Organiser and Leader after three years of very interesting and enjoyable walks at or near National Trust properties around Oxfordshire. Members of the Walking Group are very grateful to Jonathan for his detailed planning and expert leadership of the walks. We are looking for a new Leader/Organiser for our walks!
The last two walks of the season were very different! Our visit to Nuffield Place in May was on a very wet day, with only four of us present. We were due to walk through the woods and along part of the Ridgeway path near Nuffield village, after a briefing about the history of Lady Nuffield’s restored garden. However, the House Manager, Steven, took pity on us and invited us to an indoor tour of the House in the dry, which we enjoyed very much. It was still raining when we had our very interesting guided garden tour with volunteer Gill from under umbrellas! We abandoned any idea of walking beyond the café across the road.
Our June walk was on White Horse Hill near Uffington, when we were much luckier with the weather, as after early rain it cleared and we had sunshine for exploring up the hill with National Trust Ranger Andy who told us fascinating facts about the history, geology, flora and fauna. We were able to go close to the white chalk lines of the horse on the hillside, finding out how they would be cleaned and rechalked at the end of June. At the highest point of Uffington Castle we could see 360 degrees to the horizon in seven counties!
Unfortunately, these were the last walks for our Walking Group, as we regret that Jonathan Anelay has stepped back as the Organiser and Leader after three years of very interesting and enjoyable walks at or near National Trust properties around Oxfordshire. Members of the Walking Group are very grateful to Jonathan for his detailed planning and expert leadership of the walks. We are looking for a new Leader/Organiser for our walks!
Our new programme of activities is available in the February newsletter for Members and is listed in greater detail in our Events Calendar on this website. This includes coach outings, informal coffee mornings, guided walks and the last lecture of our winter lecture series on 19 March, which follows our AGM.
Broadway Tower, the brainchild of Capability Brown, is a folly at the highest point in the Cotswolds with a viewing platform on the roof. From there, it’s a short coach ride to Snowshill Manor (NT), the unconventional home of eccentric Charles Wade, a treasure trove of quirky and curious objects. There’s also an Arts and Crafts garden laid out in a series of outdoor rooms.
We had planned to include a visit to the Cathedral on this visit to Worcester. However, a special service is being held in Worcester Cathedral on 18 June, and the cathedral is shut to visitors. Sadly we have had to amend the visit to Worcester and miss out on the Cathedral – however we will see it, during the day, from the outside.
The Commandery
As a fascinating alternative we have been able to arrange a visit to the Worcester Commandery, a rather unique building which goes back to around1085. It was founded as an Almshouse and a Hospitality for Pilgrims by the Knights Hospitallers. There are some fascinating medieval paintings and a medieval banqueting hall, to view, from this period of usage, through to the reformation. Later it became a home to the Wylde Family, from the 1540’s and whilst in their hands the HQ for the Royalists in the Battle of Worcester 1651. It went through further changes in the last 200 years which were equally fascinating. You will be guided through the twists and turns of this building, hopefully avoiding the resident Ghost!
There is a small cafeteria where you will be able to get a bite to eat. From here we will walk through the medieval city of Worcester to Greyfriars House (NT), a 15th century timbered merchant’s house, saved from demolition in the 1930s, restored and handed to the Trust in 1966. Here you will have a further guided tour, and an opportunity for a National Trust afternoon tea.
Please note there are some old uneven stairs to climb and descend and uneven floors in the Commandery.
Over the winter months we arrange monthly lectures, some at Magdalen College Auditorium, others via Zoom.
The final lecture of the 2023-24 season will be held in March at Magdalen Auditorium: a lecture by Dr Robert Saunders entitled The Asian Mystery: Benjamin Disraeli and the Poet in Politics. See Lectures page for further details.
