> Marshalls Home
To many people, Yarnton (or Eardington as it was once known) is a blur of houses
as they speed along the main road between Oxford and Woodstock, but to the people who
call it home there is much beyond this stretch of tarmac.
The lovely manor house, originally built by Sir Thomas Spencer around 1611 and
completely restored in 1897, is one of the largest Jacobean houses in the
country and since 1973 has housed the Oxford Centre for Hebrew Studies. When
there was a lord of the manor, villagers met in the grounds of the manor for
fetes and celebrations, and the annual Flower Show, held in the Old Barn, was
the cause of fierce rivalry between local gardeners.
Next door, and closely connected with the manor, is the 13th century church of
St Bartholomew. Of particular interest are the two beautiful tombs in the
Spencer Chapel to members of the family of Sir John Spencer of Althorp, also the
stained glass, much of it English medieval, some of it Tudor.
The old vicarage, next to the church, has been taken over by the manor and
converted into accommodation for their students, and one of the cottages nearby
has been converted into a rectory.
The Lot Meadows down by the river, very rich in wild flowers and unusual
grasses, have recently been adopted by the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and
Oxfordshire Naturalists Trust to ensure their preservation. A unique custom,
which lapsed only very recently, concerned the drawing of lots for the mowing
rights of the meadows (hence Lot Meadows). Thirteen wooden balls, each a
little smaller than a golf ball and with a name painted on it, represented
mowths or thirteenth parts of the meadow. The balls were drawn by the
meadsmen to determine who had the right to which mowth of the meadows
harvest.
All villages must have at least one ghost, and Yarnton is no exception.
Christabel, forbidden to see the man she loved, threw herself from the bedroom
window of her home at College Mead and her ghost is said to wander the lane
outside the house, leaving a sweet perfume drifting after her. Poor Mary Ann,
who lived at Home Close, was also forbidden to see her love and died there of a
broken heart. Sad histories for two lovely old cottages.
The Grapes Inn was once called the Turn Pike Inn in the days when the
toll gate was in action and highwaymen frequented the road to Woodstock. The Red
Lion, now a modern brick building, stands on the site once occupied by an
ancient building with a very steep thatched roof. Following a serious fire the
old building was demolished and the present Red Lion built in its place.
Click here
for a quote and to instruct your survey online
> Marshalls Home