Beckley, Oxfordshire
Encyclopedia
Beckley is a village in the civil parish of Beckley and Stowood
, overlooking Otmoor
to the north. The village is about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) northeast of the centre of Oxford
. It is noted for its towering TV mast
.
were found beside the road to Upper Park Farm east of the village. Artefacts from the villa are held in the Ashmolean Museum
.
the manor
of Beckley was one of many that belonged to Saxon Wigod
, thegn
of Wallingford. After the conquest the Norman baron Robert D'Oyly
married Wigod's daughter Ealdgyth and thereby acquired Wigod's estates. D'Oyly then gave a number of the manors to his brother-in-arms Roger d'Ivry
. These included Beckley, which d'Ivry then made the caput
of his estates. Beckley remained with Roger's heirs until early in the 12th century, but the d'Ivry family seems to have died out by about 1120.
By 1155 or 1156 the d'Ivry estates had passed to John de St. John of Stanton St. John and Reynold de St. Valery
. Reynold died leaving the estates to his son Bernard, who in turn died leaving them Reynold's younger son Thomas. Thomas supported Philip II of France
in his wars against England, so by 1196 or 1197 Richard I
seized the de St. Valery estates including Beckley. During the 13th century Thomas de St. Valery and his heir by marriage, Robert de Dreux, changed sides a number of times between England and France. They forefeited and regained their english estates a number of times as a result.
In 1227 Henry III
granted the St. Valery estates to his brother Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
. Beckley remained important as the caput of the Honour
of St. Valery, which was sometimes called either the "honour of St. Valery of Beckley" or simply the "honour of Beckley". when Richard's heir Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall
died childless in 1300 his cousin Edward I
inherited his estates. In 1308 Edward II
granted Beckley to Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester
, who then leased it to Sir John de Hadlow. When Sir John died in 1346 Beckley passed to The Black Prince
, who in 1356 granted it to Sir John Chandos
. In 1367 Beckley reverted to Richard III
, and when his successor Richard II
married Anne of Bohemia
in 1382 he gave Beckley to Anne as part of her dowry
. In 1394 Queen Anne died and Richard II gave Beckley to Sir John Golafre. When Sir John died in 1396 Richard granted Beckley to Sir Philip de la Vache, who went on to serve as Chamberlain to the Queen under Henry IV
. Sir Philip had died by 1408, and when Henry V
married Catherine de Valois
in 1420 he gave her Beckley as part of her dowry. For the remainder of the 15th century the freehold of Beckley remained with the Crown
, with a succession of noblemen appointed keepers or "Parkers" to manage Beckley Park on the King's behalf.
Under the will of Henry VIII
, Beckley manor passed to Princess Elizabeth
in March 1550. In April 1550 Sir Walter Mildmay
conveyed it to Sir John Williams, later Baron Williams de Thame. In 1559 Baron Williams died leaving Beckley and Horton to his daughter Margaret and son-in-law Sir Henry Norreys
. The manors remained in their family until 1645, when Elizabeth Norris, Baroness Norreys
died leaving her estates to her daughter Bridget Wray, Baroness Norreys, who then married Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey
. When Bridget died in 1657 Beckley passed to their son James Bertie, 5th Baron Norreys
, whom Charles II
made 1st Earl of Abingdon
in 1682. Beckley and Horton remained with the Bertie family until 1919, when Viscount Bertie, son of Montagu Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon
, broke up the estate and sold it in small lots.
The manor
of Beckley was once held by the Izard family, who bought the rectory in 1568. Memorials in Beckley church to the family include one dedicated to John Izard, 'Spanish merchant,' who died in 1694. Dorothy Izard of this family married the Rev. Nicholas Levet (Levett
), minister of Westbourne, West Sussex
and fellow of Balliol College, Oxford
, who is buried in the chancel of the parish church. The Izard family eventually sold the rectory in which they had resided to the Duke of Bedford The Izard family also held the nearby manor of Charlton-on-Otmoor.
at Beckley, the earliest known record of which dates from 1175 or 76. His son Thomas had it enclosed with a stone wall, built between 1192 and 97. In 1229 the Earl of Cornwall had the park stocked with deer and a deer-leap built. When the manor reverted to the Crown
, Beckley Park became a Royal deer park. When Edward I
was fighting the First War of Scottish Independence
(1296 onwards) he ordered the park's keeper to repair its wall, pale
and ditch.
The park had the rounded outline characteristic of many medieval deer parks, and was about 1.25 miles (2 km) across in each direction. It lay just east of the present village, where the south-western part of Thomas of St. Valery's park pale still survives. The eastern line of the pale now forms the parish boundary with Horton-cum-Studley
and the southern line of the pale forms part of the parish boundary with Stanton St John. Otmoor Lane, leading from the village to the moor, follows what may have been the northwestern line of the pale.
On a number of occasions poachers raided the park: for example in 1264-65 during the Second Barons' War
and again in 1276 and 1281. Oxford University
students were constant poachers: so much so that in 1413 the Crown
threatened to deprive the University of its royal privileges.
The Earl of Cornwall had a hunting lodge built near the centre of the park, at the foot of the hill overlooking Otmoor to the north. It fortified with three concentric, rectangular moats. The lodge no longer stands but its moats survive. After Sir John Williams bought the manor of Beckley he had the present Tudor
house built, just outside the moats and adjoining the outermost one. Jacobean
panelling was added to the parlour in the 17th century but otherwise the house remains very largely as it was built. It is a Grade I listed building.
By 1628 the deer park had been broken up and enclosed
as farmland. The farmstead of Beckley Park Farm (or Lower Park Farm) was the Tudor house Sir John Williams had built. The farmstead of Upper Park Farm is on the upper part of the hill, beside the springs whose stream fed the moats of the former lodge and then flowed across Otmoor to join the River Ray
. That of Middle Park Farm is between the two, beside former fish ponds that the stream fed before reaching the lodge.
of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
was originally Norman
, but was rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries. The interior has a number of 14th and 15th century wall paintings
including a Virgin and Child, an Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the weighing of souls
, the torments of the damned and 15th century paintings of Saint Peter
, Saint Paul and a Doom
.
Beckley School
is a Church of England
primary school and a village hall. There is a gastropub
, the Abingdon Arms. There was a farm shop but this closed in 2009.
Beckley and Stowood
Beckley and Stowood is a civil parish in the South Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 it had a population of 553. The parish includes Beckley and Stowood.-References:...
, overlooking Otmoor
Otmoor
Otmoor or Ot Moor is an area of wetland and wet grassland in Oxfordshire, England, located halfway between Oxford and Bicester. It is about above sea level, and has an area of approximately ....
to the north. The village is about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) northeast of the centre of Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
. It is noted for its towering TV mast
Oxford transmitting station
The Oxford transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, situated on land above Ordnance Datum to the north east of the city of Oxford, in Oxfordshire, England . It has a guyed steel lattice mast which is in height to the top of the main steel structure...
.
Archaeology
In the 19th century the remains of a Roman villaRoman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
were found beside the road to Upper Park Farm east of the village. Artefacts from the villa are held in the Ashmolean Museum
Ashmolean Museum
The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum...
.
Manor
Until the Norman conquest of EnglandNorman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Beckley was one of many that belonged to Saxon Wigod
Wigod
Wigod was the eleventh century Saxon thegn or lord of the English town of Wallingford, and a kinsman of Edward the Confessor....
, thegn
Thegn
The term thegn , from OE þegn, ðegn "servant, attendant, retainer", is commonly used to describe either an aristocratic retainer of a king or nobleman in Anglo-Saxon England, or as a class term, the majority of the aristocracy below the ranks of ealdormen and high-reeves...
of Wallingford. After the conquest the Norman baron Robert D'Oyly
Robert D'Oyly
Robert D'Oyly was a Norman nobleman who accompanied William the Conqueror on the Norman Conquest, his invasion of England. He died in 1091.-Background:Robert was the son of Walter D'Oyly and elder brother to Nigel D'Oyly...
married Wigod's daughter Ealdgyth and thereby acquired Wigod's estates. D'Oyly then gave a number of the manors to his brother-in-arms Roger d'Ivry
Roger d'Ivry
Roger d'Ivry or d'Ivri was an 11th century nobleman from Ivry-la-Bataille in Normandy. He took part in William of Normandy's conquest of England in 1066 and founded the Abbey of Notre-Dame-d'Ivry in 1071...
. These included Beckley, which d'Ivry then made the caput
Caput
The Latin word caput, meaning literally "head" and by metonymy "top", has been borrowed in a variety of English words, including capital, captain, and decapitate...
of his estates. Beckley remained with Roger's heirs until early in the 12th century, but the d'Ivry family seems to have died out by about 1120.
By 1155 or 1156 the d'Ivry estates had passed to John de St. John of Stanton St. John and Reynold de St. Valery
Saint-Valery-en-Caux
Saint-Valery-en-Caux is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A small fishing port and light industrial town situated in the Pays de Caux, some west of Dieppe at the junction of the D53, D20, D79 and the D925 roads...
. Reynold died leaving the estates to his son Bernard, who in turn died leaving them Reynold's younger son Thomas. Thomas supported Philip II of France
Philip II of France
Philip II Augustus was the King of France from 1180 until his death. A member of the House of Capet, Philip Augustus was born at Gonesse in the Val-d'Oise, the son of Louis VII and his third wife, Adela of Champagne...
in his wars against England, so by 1196 or 1197 Richard I
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
seized the de St. Valery estates including Beckley. During the 13th century Thomas de St. Valery and his heir by marriage, Robert de Dreux, changed sides a number of times between England and France. They forefeited and regained their english estates a number of times as a result.
In 1227 Henry III
Henry III of England
Henry III was the son and successor of John as King of England, reigning for 56 years from 1216 until his death. His contemporaries knew him as Henry of Winchester. He was the first child king in England since the reign of Æthelred the Unready...
granted the St. Valery estates to his brother Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall
Richard of Cornwall was Count of Poitou , 1st Earl of Cornwall and German King...
. Beckley remained important as the caput of the Honour
Honour (land)
In medieval England, an honour could consist of a great lordship, comprising dozens or hundreds of manors. Holders of honours often attempted to preserve the integrity of an honour over time, administering its properties as a unit, maintaining inheritances together, etc.The typical honour had...
of St. Valery, which was sometimes called either the "honour of St. Valery of Beckley" or simply the "honour of Beckley". when Richard's heir Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall
Edmund, 2nd Earl of Cornwall
Edmund of Cornwall of Almain was the 2nd Earl of Cornwall of the 7th creation.-Early life:Edmund was born at Berkhamsted Castle on 26 December 1249, the second and only surviving son of Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall and his wife Sanchia of Provence, daughter of Ramon Berenguer, Count of Provence,...
died childless in 1300 his cousin Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
inherited his estates. In 1308 Edward II
Edward II of England
Edward II , called Edward of Caernarfon, was King of England from 1307 until he was deposed by his wife Isabella in January 1327. He was the sixth Plantagenet king, in a line that began with the reign of Henry II...
granted Beckley to Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester
Hugh le Despenser, 1st Earl of Winchester
Hugh le Despenser , sometimes referred to as "the Elder Despenser", was for a time the chief adviser to King Edward II of England....
, who then leased it to Sir John de Hadlow. When Sir John died in 1346 Beckley passed to The Black Prince
Edward, the Black Prince
Edward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
, who in 1356 granted it to Sir John Chandos
John Chandos
Sir John Chandos, Viscount of Saint-Sauveur in the Cotentin, Constable of Aquitaine, Seneschal of Poitou, KG was a medieval English knight who hailed from Radbourne Hall, Derbyshire. Chandos was a close friend of Edward, the Black Prince and a founding member and 19th Knight of the Order of the...
. In 1367 Beckley reverted to Richard III
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
, and when his successor Richard II
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
married Anne of Bohemia
Anne of Bohemia
Anne of Bohemia was Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the eldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor, and Elizabeth of Pomerania....
in 1382 he gave Beckley to Anne as part of her dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
. In 1394 Queen Anne died and Richard II gave Beckley to Sir John Golafre. When Sir John died in 1396 Richard granted Beckley to Sir Philip de la Vache, who went on to serve as Chamberlain to the Queen under Henry IV
Henry IV of England
Henry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke...
. Sir Philip had died by 1408, and when Henry V
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
married Catherine de Valois
Catherine of Valois
Catherine of France was the Queen consort of England from 1420 until 1422. She was the daughter of King Charles VI of France, wife of Henry V of Monmouth, King of England, mother of Henry VI, King of England and King of France, and through her secret marriage with Owen Tudor, the grandmother of...
in 1420 he gave her Beckley as part of her dowry. For the remainder of the 15th century the freehold of Beckley remained with the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
, with a succession of noblemen appointed keepers or "Parkers" to manage Beckley Park on the King's behalf.
Under the will of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, Beckley manor passed to Princess Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
in March 1550. In April 1550 Sir Walter Mildmay
Walter Mildmay
Sir Walter Mildmay was an English statesman who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer of England under Queen Elizabeth I, and was founder of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.-Early life:...
conveyed it to Sir John Williams, later Baron Williams de Thame. In 1559 Baron Williams died leaving Beckley and Horton to his daughter Margaret and son-in-law Sir Henry Norreys
Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys
Henry Norris , Baron Norris belonged to an old Berkshire family, many members of which had held positions at the English court. He was the son of Sir Henry Norreys, who was beheaded for his supposed adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn, and Mary Fiennes Henry Norris (or Norreys), Baron Norris (15257...
. The manors remained in their family until 1645, when Elizabeth Norris, Baroness Norreys
Elizabeth Norris
Elizabeth Norris, Baroness Norris of Rycote was an English noblewoman and a suo jure baroness. She was the wife of Edward Wray, Groom of the Bedchamber to King James I of England, with whom she eloped in 1622, and incurred the king's displeasure as she was his royal ward...
died leaving her estates to her daughter Bridget Wray, Baroness Norreys, who then married Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey
Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey
Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey, 15th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, KG, PC was the eldest son of Robert Bertie, 1st Earl of Lindsey and his wife Elizabeth Montagu, daughter of Edward Montagu, 1st Baron Montagu of Boughton.-Early life:...
. When Bridget died in 1657 Beckley passed to their son James Bertie, 5th Baron Norreys
James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon
James Bertie, 1st Earl of Abingdon was an English nobleman.Bertie was the eldest son of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey by his second wife Bridget Bertie , 4th Baroness Norreys, suo jure Lady Norreys. He succeeded his mother as 5th Baron Norreys on the latter's death, c. 1657...
, whom Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
made 1st Earl of Abingdon
Earl of Abingdon
Earl of Abingdon is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created on 30 November 1682 for James Bertie, 5th Baron Norreys of Rycote. He was the eldest son of Montagu Bertie, 2nd Earl of Lindsey by his second marriage to Bridget, 4th Baroness Norreys de Rycote, and the younger half-brother of...
in 1682. Beckley and Horton remained with the Bertie family until 1919, when Viscount Bertie, son of Montagu Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon
Montagu Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon
Montagu Arthur Bertie, 7th Earl of Abingdon was an English peer.-Background:He was the fifth child of Montagu Bertie, 6th Earl of Abingdon and Elizabeth Lavinia Vernon-Harcourt.-Family:...
, broke up the estate and sold it in small lots.
The manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Beckley was once held by the Izard family, who bought the rectory in 1568. Memorials in Beckley church to the family include one dedicated to John Izard, 'Spanish merchant,' who died in 1694. Dorothy Izard of this family married the Rev. Nicholas Levet (Levett
Levett
Levett is an Anglo-Norman territorial surname deriving from the village of Livet-en-Ouche, now Jonquerets-de-Livet, in Eure, Normandy. Ancestors of the earliest Levett family in England, the de Livets were lords of the village of Livet, and undertenants of the de Ferrers, among the most powerful of...
), minister of Westbourne, West Sussex
Westbourne, West Sussex
Westbourne is a village and civil parish in the Chichester District of West Sussex, England. It is located half a mile north east of Emsworth. The parish includes the hamlets of Woodmancote and Aldsworth, and once included the settlements of Southbourne and Prinsted to the south. The village...
and fellow of Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, who is buried in the chancel of the parish church. The Izard family eventually sold the rectory in which they had resided to the Duke of Bedford The Izard family also held the nearby manor of Charlton-on-Otmoor.
Deer park
Bernard of St. Valery had a deer parkMedieval deer park
A medieval deer park was an enclosed area containing deer. It was bounded by a ditch and bank with a wooden park pale on top of the bank. The ditch was typically on the inside, thus allowing deer to enter the park but preventing them from leaving.-History:...
at Beckley, the earliest known record of which dates from 1175 or 76. His son Thomas had it enclosed with a stone wall, built between 1192 and 97. In 1229 the Earl of Cornwall had the park stocked with deer and a deer-leap built. When the manor reverted to the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
, Beckley Park became a Royal deer park. When Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
was fighting the First War of Scottish Independence
First War of Scottish Independence
The First War of Scottish Independence lasted from the invasion by England in 1296 until the de jure restoration of Scottish independence with the Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton in 1328...
(1296 onwards) he ordered the park's keeper to repair its wall, pale
Palisade
A palisade is a steel or wooden fence or wall of variable height, usually used as a defensive structure.- Typical construction :Typical construction consisted of small or mid sized tree trunks aligned vertically, with no spacing in between. The trunks were sharpened or pointed at the top, and were...
and ditch.
The park had the rounded outline characteristic of many medieval deer parks, and was about 1.25 miles (2 km) across in each direction. It lay just east of the present village, where the south-western part of Thomas of St. Valery's park pale still survives. The eastern line of the pale now forms the parish boundary with Horton-cum-Studley
Horton-cum-Studley
Horton-cum-Studley is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about northeast of the centre of Oxford.-Civil parish:The hamlet of Studley was originally in two parts: one in Oxfordshire and the other in the Hundred of Ashendon in Buckinghamshire. Horton was always part of Oxfordshire...
and the southern line of the pale forms part of the parish boundary with Stanton St John. Otmoor Lane, leading from the village to the moor, follows what may have been the northwestern line of the pale.
On a number of occasions poachers raided the park: for example in 1264-65 during the Second Barons' War
Second Barons' War
The Second Barons' War was a civil war in England between the forces of a number of barons led by Simon de Montfort, against the Royalist forces led by Prince Edward , in the name of Henry III.-Causes:...
and again in 1276 and 1281. Oxford University
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
students were constant poachers: so much so that in 1413 the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
threatened to deprive the University of its royal privileges.
The Earl of Cornwall had a hunting lodge built near the centre of the park, at the foot of the hill overlooking Otmoor to the north. It fortified with three concentric, rectangular moats. The lodge no longer stands but its moats survive. After Sir John Williams bought the manor of Beckley he had the present Tudor
Tudor architecture
The Tudor architectural style is the final development of medieval architecture during the Tudor period and even beyond, for conservative college patrons...
house built, just outside the moats and adjoining the outermost one. Jacobean
Jacobean architecture
The Jacobean style is the second phase of Renaissance architecture in England, following the Elizabethan style. It is named after King James I of England, with whose reign it is associated.-Characteristics:...
panelling was added to the parlour in the 17th century but otherwise the house remains very largely as it was built. It is a Grade I listed building.
By 1628 the deer park had been broken up and enclosed
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
as farmland. The farmstead of Beckley Park Farm (or Lower Park Farm) was the Tudor house Sir John Williams had built. The farmstead of Upper Park Farm is on the upper part of the hill, beside the springs whose stream fed the moats of the former lodge and then flowed across Otmoor to join the River Ray
River Ray
The River Ray is a river in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, England. It rises at Quainton Hill and flows west through a flat countryside for around 25 km or 15 miles. It passes the village of Ambrosden and then flows through Otmoor...
. That of Middle Park Farm is between the two, beside former fish ponds that the stream fed before reaching the lodge.
Parish church
The Church of England parish churchChurch of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Assumption of Mary
According to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life...
was originally Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
, but was rebuilt in the 14th and 15th centuries. The interior has a number of 14th and 15th century wall paintings
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
including a Virgin and Child, an Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the weighing of souls
Weighing of souls
The psychostasia, Greek 'weighing of souls', is a method of divine determination of fate, which persists from the Iliad through to christian theology....
, the torments of the damned and 15th century paintings of Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
, Saint Paul and a Doom
Doom (painting)
A Doom is a traditional English term for a painting or other image of the Last Judgment, an event in Christian eschatology. Christ judges souls, and then sends them to either Heaven or Hell...
.
Amenities
Beckley School
Beckley School is a Church of England Primary School in Beckley Oxfordshire.- History :The original Victorian school was built in 1895 and is now used as the school hall, The current main school building was built in 1968 with new classrooms added in 1974, 1995 and 2009...
is a Church of England
Voluntary controlled school
A voluntary controlled school is a state-funded school in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in which a foundation or trust has some formal influence in the running of the school...
primary school and a village hall. There is a gastropub
Gastropub
Gastropub or Gastrolounge refers to a bar and restaurant that serves high-end beer and food.The term gastropub, a portmanteau of gastronomy and pub, originated in England in the late 20th century. English pubs were drinking establishments and little emphasis was placed on the serving of food. If...
, the Abingdon Arms. There was a farm shop but this closed in 2009.