Nuneham Courtenay, (also known as Nuneham Park), Oxford, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

The Harcourts, during the Middle Ages, lived at Stanton Harcourt, 10 kilometres west of Oxford. Sir Simon (later Viscount) Harcourt bought the manor of Newnham in 1712, although the Harcourt seat was not moved to Newnham Courtenay until 1760. By this time Sir Simon's grandson, the first Earl Harcourt (1714-77), had constructed a new house, designed by Stiff Leadbetter; at this point the spelling of the name was altered to Nuneham. The House was deliberately sited on a wooded knoll above the River Thames to take advantage of the views down to the water, of Oxford's dreaming spires, and into the broad countryside beyond. At the same time surrounding landscaped grounds were laid out. In the early 1760s the first Earl transplanted the village of Newnham, now within his landscape park, to the Oxford to Henley turnpike, building an entirely new settlement for his tenants, demolishing the old village and incorporating the site into the park and pleasure grounds. He replaced the old parish church with a new one, designed to act as a classical temple within his new pleasure grounds. The first Earl's son, Lord Nuneham (later second Earl) prevailed upon his friend, the poet William Mason, around 1771-2 to design the informal Flower Garden which became influential on fashions in flower gardening, and was acclaimed as a revolution in taste and sentiment (Batey 1979).

In 1777 the second Earl (1736-1809), a friend and patron of Rousseau, inherited Nuneham. He called upon William Mason to lay out a picturesque landscape upon the first Earl's classical landscape north of the House. The Earl was patron of William Sawrey Gilpin (1762-1843), and wrote his own guidebook, showing that his landscaped garden was to be seen and appreciated like a Gilpin picturesque tour with defined 'stations' for viewing the Thames Valley landscape (Batey and Lambert 1990). The Earl employed Lancelot Brown from 1779 to 1782 and, together with Mason, advised Brown on the transformation of the first Earl's scene into an idealised landscape 'with hanging woods, lush meadows and Abingdon church spire set against the Berkshire hills' (Batey 1979), expanding the park significantly. Gilpin, employed in the 1830s, laid out a picturesque pinetum on newly acquired land by the Oxford road, at the same time modifying Mason's Flower Garden. The RAF occupied the estate during the Second World War, after which Lord Harcourt sold the estate to the University of Oxford. The House is now (1997) a religious centre, leased from the University.