Beckley Park is a stately home located near the village of Beckley

Beckley, Oxfordshire

Beckley is a village in the civil parish of Beckley and Stowood, overlooking Otmoor to the north. The village is about northeast of the centre of Oxford. It is noted for its towering TV mast.-Archaeology:...

, in Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire

Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

It was built in 1540 by Lord Williams of Thame, who also built a great house at Rycote

Rycote

Rycote is a hamlet southwest of Thame in Oxfordshire.-Saint Michael's chapel:Richard and Sybil Quartermayne, lord and lady of the manor of Rycote, founded Saint Michael's chapel as a chantry in 1449. It is a Perpendicular Gothic building with a chancel, nave and west tower...

, a few miles away. It was originally built as a lodge for use when the lord and a party hunted the great park. Today it is the main headquarters of the Beckley Foundation and the cherished home of Amanda Feilding, who is married to Lord Neidpath, who is himself the owner of Stanway House

Stanway House

Stanway House is an example of a Jacobean manor house, located near Stanway, Gloucestershire. The manor was owned by Tewkesbury Abbey for 800 years then for 500 years by the Tracy family and their descendants, the Earls of Wemyss...

 in Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

.

The 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...

 brick edifice of the house is encircled by three moats which attest to the place's importance in former days. Beckley Park remained with the descendants of Lord Williams, the Earls 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...

, until 1920 when it was bought by Mr. Feilding, father of Amanda Feilding, Lady Neidpath. It is situated in 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 ....

 just outside of Oxford.

The house is closed to the public, although it is regularly used for photo shoots and as a film location.

History

Beckley Park was first enclosed in the 12th century from land held by Roger D’Ivry and later by Richard, Duke of Cornwall, who built a palace on Beckley Hill around which grew the village. He then limited the area of the park by a stone wall, partly extant, and stocked with deer. The hunting lodge was built on a Saxon site at this spot in the centre of the enclosure. First mentioned in 1347, the lodge was re-built in 1376 for King Edward III

Edward III of England

Edward III was King of England from 1327 until his death and is noted for his military success. Restoring royal authority after the disastrous reign of his father, Edward II, Edward III went on to transform the Kingdom of England into one of the most formidable military powers in Europe...

; the moats, hall buttresses date from the late 14th century. The park was crowned property and its keepers appointed by the King for two centuries: notable families were the Hamdens, the Verneys; and Sir John, later Lord Williams of Thame who in 1550 held the park by grant, rebuilt the lodge to probably the present structure. The park and lodge passed to the Norreys family, whose head in the late 17th was created 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 the early 17th Century also a family of Ledwells lived there for generations. The Estate was sold by the son of the seventh Earl of Abingdon to the grandfather of the present owner in 1919.

The house remains unaltered and 'unmodernised' to an unusual extent. It is a Grade I listed building of historic interest. The moats as well have been listed.

Beckley Today

In 2003 Beckley Park was used as the set for one of the opening scenes of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a 2005 fantasy film directed by Mike Newell and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the fourth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman...

in which Frank Bryce runs through the garden to The Riddle House. Photographers who have worked here include Mario Testino

Mario Testino

-Early Life:Testino grew up in Lima, the eldest son of a businessman. When he was young he wanted to be a priest. Testino recalls being unpopular at school because of his flamboyance. He was good at math and went on to study economics at Universidad del Pacífico, where his insistence on wearing...

.

External links

• The Beckley Foundation
• Stanway, the house of Lady Neidpath's husband Jamie Neidpath.