|
 The Berners Estate Company was set
up in 1922 by Lord Berners [qv] to manage his manorial estate, approximating to
the monastic lands which belonged to medieval Beaulieu Abbey, on the slope
northwards down to the Thames.
During his life it yielded about ?7,000 a
year; it now belongs to his heir's only granddaughter, who has the title of
Lord of the Manor of Faringdon .
The present house was begun about 1780, near
the site, north of All Saints' Church [qv], of the old house which had been
heavily damaged during the Civil War
The town gate, with good piers of
c.1700, leads to the south entrance front of five bays.
Even in evening
sunshine, it is a dull stuccoed block, raised on a terrace in a flanking of
trees at the end of a long stretch of mown grass.
It has two storeys and
five bays; over the attic storey, a hipped roof interrupted by the pediment.
The interior, not open to the public,
 has a "fine" entrance hall and some "elegant" stucco
work. Part has been converted into flats.
A striking feature is the flock
of coloured fantail pigeons. The orangery and the park (with lake, with summer
house and monolithic Egyptian statue made for the Great Exhibition of 1851) are
occasionally opened to the public.
© Gerald Taylor 2000.
M. Amory, Lord
Berners, 1998. Pevsner, Berkshire, p 140.
Aerial photo © D
Collier |
