Wilcote
Encyclopedia
Wilcote is a hamlet
about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north of Witney
in Oxfordshire
, England
. Wilcote was a separate civil parish until 1932, when it was absorbed into that of North Leigh
.
, which was known by the 15th century as Butler's Court, after the family that held the manor in the 13th and 14th centuries. Called Wilcote Grove between the 1840s and 1870, it has since been known as Wilcote Manor. Repairs to the "room at the end of the hall" were recorded in 1390–1, and in 1597 and 1601 there were two rooms, one over the other, at the lower end of the hall.
In 1987 the oldest part of the house was the south wing, a substantial parlour block, originally with two rooms on each floor, of the early 17th century; a newel stair remained at the side of the stack. The main range, perhaps incorporating the medieval house, was rebuilt later in the 17th century, and was extended in the early 19th over part of a range of early 18th-century outbuildings. In 1938 the house was virtually derelict. In that year the east front was buttressed, the house extensively restored, and the gardens laid out. Some 18th-century panelling in the house was used as a model for the decoration of the principal rooms.
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
about 3.5 miles (5.6 km) north of Witney
Witney
Witney is a town on the River Windrush, west of Oxford in Oxfordshire, England.The place-name 'Witney' is first attested in a Saxon charter of 969 as 'Wyttannige'; it appears as 'Witenie' in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name means 'Witta's island'....
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...
. Wilcote was a separate civil parish until 1932, when it was absorbed into that of North Leigh
North Leigh
North Leigh is a village and civil parish about northeast of Witney in Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of East End, and since 1932 has also included the hamlet of Wilcote.-Early history:...
.
Manor
Wilcote Manor stands presumably on the site of the medieval manor houseManor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
, which was known by the 15th century as Butler's Court, after the family that held the manor in the 13th and 14th centuries. Called Wilcote Grove between the 1840s and 1870, it has since been known as Wilcote Manor. Repairs to the "room at the end of the hall" were recorded in 1390–1, and in 1597 and 1601 there were two rooms, one over the other, at the lower end of the hall.
In 1987 the oldest part of the house was the south wing, a substantial parlour block, originally with two rooms on each floor, of the early 17th century; a newel stair remained at the side of the stack. The main range, perhaps incorporating the medieval house, was rebuilt later in the 17th century, and was extended in the early 19th over part of a range of early 18th-century outbuildings. In 1938 the house was virtually derelict. In that year the east front was buttressed, the house extensively restored, and the gardens laid out. Some 18th-century panelling in the house was used as a model for the decoration of the principal rooms.