Rousham, (also known as Rousham Park), Bicester, England

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

NOTE

This entry is a summary. Because of the complexity of this site, the standard Register entry format would convey neither an adequate description nor a satisfactory account of the development of the landscape. The user is advised to consult the references given below for more detailed accounts. Many Listed Buildings exist within the site, not all of which have been here referred to. Descriptions of these are to be found in the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest produced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

Rousham is a 17th-century country house with pleasure grounds laid out to designs by Charles Bridgeman during the 1720s, landscaped, modified and extended by William Kent from 1737-41, and of great contemporary influence. The site is the most complete surviving example of Kent's landscape work.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Rousham lies in north Oxfordshire, 1 kilometre south of the village of Steeple Aston, 1 kilometre south-west of Lower Heyford and 2 kilometres south-west of Upper Heyford. The roughly 55 hectare site is bounded largely by agricultural land, with the lane to Steeple Aston cutting north/south through the park. The north boundary is formed by the B4030 road from Middleton Stoney to Enstone, and the south boundary is marked by a stone wall. The park covers largely level ground above the Cherwell flood plain, with the pleasure grounds running down the hillside to a riverside walk and the adjacent water meadow beyond the River Cherwell.

The largely rural setting is very important, especially in views north and east from the house, garden and pleasure grounds. Kent intended extensive views across the flood meadows north of the Cherwell, and farmland beyond, to local villages, in particular the church towers and villages of Steeple Aston, Upper and Lower Heyford and Rousham itself, together with the medieval, causewayed Heyford Bridge standing 500 metres north of the house. The taller buildings of Upper Heyford Airfield are visible on the skyline 2.5 kilometres north-west of the site, together with several groups of 20th-century agricultural buildings, and intrusive late 20th-century developments on the edges of the villages. A development in Steeple Aston obscures the intended view of the church tower. A rim of low, partly wooded hills, 2 kilometres distant, terminates views south from the house and park across agricultural land, with a prominent clump of trees standing on the hillside 1.5 kilometres south of the house.
 

REFERENCES Used by English Heritage

Note: There is a wealth of material about this site. Some key references are cited below.

Country Life, 27 (26 February 1910), pp 306-15; 99 (17 May 1946), pp 900-3; (24 May 1946), pp 946-9; (14 June 1946), pp 1084-7; (21 June 1946), pp 1130-3

N Pevsner and J Sherwood, The Buildings of England: Oxfordshire (1974), pp 740-6

P Willis, Charles Bridgeman (1979), pp 66-8

M Batey, Oxford Gardens (1982), pp 104-6

Victoria History of the County of Oxfordshire 11, (1983), pp 159-63

Garden History 11, no 2 (1983), pp 126-32; 25, no 2 (1997), pp 178-88

J Garden History 6, no 3 (1986), pp 187-226

Maps

A Jones (CPRE), Rousham Landscaped Gardens, 1980 (copy on EH file)

Map of the Parish of Rousham, 1721 (Oxfordshire County Record Office)

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1875; 2nd edition published 1898

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1881; 2nd edition published 1899
 

Description written: March 1998

Amended: March 1999

Edited: March 2000