OCNT
First planted in 1810 and reopened to the public in 2019 after a 2-year restoration, these Grade 1 listed gardens feature outstanding scenery and should be particularly colourful in May when the rhododendrons are in bloom. There is also a renowned rock garden, dolls house museum, rare colony of wallabies, huge carp in the 7 […]
Tyntesfield – the one built with guano money! A near-complete Victorian country house and estate. The richly decorated and furnished house is home to more than 60,000 of the Gibbs family’s possessions. There are splendid gardens, including a kitchen garden. Clevedon Court is a very different property. The house is 13th century, has been the […]
This 19th -century castle, nestled at the foot of the Malvern Hills in Herefordshire, was completed in1820 for John Cocks, 1st Earl Somers, and is still the home of his descendants, the Hervey-Bathurst family. Many of the rooms are open to the public, including the Great Hall, the dining room, the gothic drawing room, the […]
The home of 19 generations of the Spencer family since it was built 500 years ago, Althorp is a magnificent mansion with delightful gardens, a gift shop and a café. There are 19 splendid rooms to explore on 2 floors. There is top-quality china and furniture to be admired and paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, […]
Frogmore House, in the grounds of Home Park (½ mile south of Windsor Castle), was built between 1680 and 1684 and became a royal residence in 1792 when Queen Charlotte purchased it as a country retreat for herself and her unmarried daughters. She employed architect James Wyatt to enlarge and modernise the property. Since then […]
The beautiful Wye Valley is Border Country, fought over for centuries by the English and the Welsh. The Forest of Dean is full of myth, legend and tradition. We visit historic Monmouth in the heart of the Wye Valley, the birthplace of Henry V. Monmouth’s beautiful ancient fortified stone bridge was hopeless as a defence […]
Talk by Julie Ann Godson The true story of the marriage of Viscount Ashbrook to Betty Ridge, daughter of a humble Thames fisherman, which took place in a village church in Oxfordshire. Betty’s granddaughter was to become Duchess of Marlborough and chatelain of Blenheim Palace.
Coleshill House, its secrets, trials and tribulations A talk by Liza Dibble, NT Community Learning Officer for the Buscot & Coleshill Estates Buscot and Coleshill Estates came together in 1956 on the death of Ernest Cook, bequeathed to the National Trust. Coleshill House, built in 1660 and occupied by Auxiliary Units during WW2, burned down […]
This talk is given by Ian Wright, Consultancy Manager (Gardens), NT South West Region Ian promises an overview of the diverse range of gardens managed by the National Trust, the challenges they face, and discusses the future for historic gardens.
Photo source: Mister Hemmings Traditional Abingdon Morris Dancers Mike Heaney is an authority on Morris dancing and a musician for the Eynsham Morris Where does Morris dancing come from? What’s the significance of wearing bells on legs, waving handkerchiefs and clashing sticks? This talk disentangles myth from history.
Speaker Amy Lim holds a Collaborative Doctoral Award at the University of Oxford and Tate, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Her talk focuses on 17th and 18th century portraits in National Trust houses, and explores how and why they were displayed. Amy will explain how to “decode” portraits by looking at clothes, […]
The speaker is from the team at Cliveden’s Talks Service An in-depth look at Cliveden’s stories, from devilish dukes to scandalous headlines and boundary-breaking garden design to political notoreity. A journey through Cliveden’s 350-year history, starting with the Duke of Buckingham who built the first house in 1666.
On Tuesday, 20 April at 11am: our Zoom lecture will be Ham House, the finest 17C house in Europe to be given by Roseanne Williams, a member of the National Trust Monitoring Group, a keen volunteer for many years, and a former member of Council. It is the story of how a father and daughter, William and Elizabeth Murray, developed […]
From Monday 17th until Sunday 23rd May the Zoom lecture will be Jewish Country Houses, Collections and National Memory, a joint presentation by Abigail Green, Professor of Modern European History, University of Oxford, and Tom Stammers, Associate Professor in Modern European History, University of Durham. Abigail is working with the National Trust on a Knowledge Exchange Fellowship at Oxford helping to […]
Oxford Centre is planning our first outing of the year to visit Coleshill Park on May 27th 2021. It will be a half-day visit to Coleshill Model Farm, via Middleleaze Paddock, the site where up to 500 native broadleaf saplings will be planted next winter, sponsored by members of the Oxford Centre. Numbers on the […]
From Monday 14th to Sunday 20th June, the presentation on Reroofing The Vyne by George Roberts, National Trust Curator of The Vyne, will be available via a Zoom link for members. Following damage from a severe storm in 2013, The Vyne’s entire roof needed to be repaired. In September 2018, this former Tudor palace, visited by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, reopened […]
Andy Foley, National Trust Area Ranger, will lead a guided walk on White Horse Hill, telling us about the ancient monuments, and about his work as a Ranger. Andy gave Oxford Centre Members an interesting zoom talk in October 2020 about working at White Horse Hill. Members who have expressed interest in joining the Walking […]
Claydon House was built for the 2nd Earl Verney in the 18th century to rival his neighbour, Earl Temple of Stowe. The simple exterior hides a lavish interior decorated with exotic designs and exceptional Rococo carvings. A niece who inherited the building, and a lot of debt, promptly pulled down two thirds of the house, […]
This talk by Mark Lewis celebrates the life and work of William Morris, poet, artist and social reformer, who pioneered a movement against the soulless machine production of the Industrial Revolution and sought to promote joyful labour, fine craftsmanship and simplicity of expression. Mark is a designer-maker specialising in silversmithing, jewellery and product design. He […]
The Walking Group will walk from Ashbury, incorporating a guided visit to Ashdown House by author Nicola Cornick, with an account of the House’s associations with Elizabeth of Bohemia, “the Winter Queen”. The walk is approximately five-and-a-half miles. Members who have expressed interest in joining the Walking Group will be sent further details of when […]