Map: Mapledurham, House & Mill & Lock
Map: Mapledurham House
Left bank below Lock
Open Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays from Easter until the end of September and Sundays in October.
Also open for previously arranged group visits during the week.
For more details, call 01189 723350 or visit
Sir Robert Bardolf, 1395, Mapledurham
... One of those who attended the funeral of Sir Francis Knollys was
Sir Richard Blount of Mapledurham. The Blounts were ostensibly conformists in religious matters
and were relatively wealthy. Six years before the Armada Sir Richard had bought the
adjoining Chazey manor from Anthony Bridges, presumably the man who sheltered
Fr George Snape at Great Shefford Manor Farm.
At the time of Sir Francis Knollys' funeral it seems that Sir Richard's father had recently
converted to Catholicism. Sir Michael Blount was a former Sheriff of Oxfordshire and
Member of Parliament who had become Lieutenant of the Tower of London six years earlier.
He was deeply impressed by two of his Catholic prisoners, both of whom were sentenced to death.
One was Fr Robert Southwell, the Jesuit priest and poet, who had played a major role in the
Harleyford conference. The other was Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel.
Fr Southwell was executed early in 1595 and Philip Howard died later that year
while awaiting execution. Both were canonised in 1970.
Evidence of Sir Michael's conversion to Catholicism is found in the mansion he was then
building at Mapledurham. In the year of the Armada he had raised a loan of
£1,500 (= £140,000 today) to build it.
The original, relatively humble manor house was then anything up to four hundred years old
and did not befit a man of Sir Michael's status. (A corner of the old manor house
quadrangle still exists.)
The new house was not completed until 1612, two years after Sir Michael's death.
Yet not long after he ceased to be Lieutenant of the Tower, he had two secret hiding places
constructed off a first floor bedroom. Their distinctive features show that they were built
by the same craftsman who had earlier constructed hides at Ufton Court, someone involved
in the local Catholic underground.
As secret Catholics the Blounts had a useful facility within the parish church at Mapledurham
which stands immediately behind the manor house. They owned the Bardolf Aisle and it was
therefore possible for them to pray privately in the family aisle during Anglican services.
As far as the Church of England authorities were concerned, this would constitute attendance
at an Anglican service. But as far as the family were concerned they could merely be making
proper use of their aisle for private prayer. Thus the Blounts had an unusual opportunity to
avoid the labels 'recusant' and 'church papist', if they so wished. The Bardolf Aisle
remains, to this day, a private aisle owned by Catholics within an Anglican church.
1792: Picturesque Views on the Thames by Samuel Ireland -
... the village of Maple-Durham, contiguous to which
is a fine old mansion, occupied by Mr. Blount ;
which, by the style of its architecture, seems
to have been built about the period of Elizabeth
or James.
It stands at the extremity of
the village, and its grand front commands a
rich and beautiful park; but the opposite
side towards the river is so walled in, and encumbered
with out-buildings, as to banish the
river scenery, which can alone give a complete
finish to a picturesque view.
1890: Mapledurham House, Henry Taunt -
Mapledurham House, Henry Taunt, 1890
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; HT05156
1873: Taunt's Map and Guide to the Thames -
The Manor-house of Mapledurham is also a splendid specimen of the Elizabethan style;
indeed, there are few in any part of England that are finer or in better preservation.
It has always belonged to the family of the Blounts, and is still in their possession.
From the front of the house there extends a broad avenue of elm trees, about a mile in length,
forming a magnificent setting to a noble picture.
Mapledurham is a fine, red-brick
late-16th century manor house set at the edge of the village and close to the
River Thames.
In the late Middle Ages the Mapledurham
estate passed from the Bardolf family to the Lyndes. A large part of
Lyndes' timber-framed house was retained when Sir Michael Blount built the
present, far larger, house in 1588. Sir Michael was Lieutenant of the
Tower of London whose grandfather, Richard Blount, had purchased the estate in
1490. The Blount family were Catholic recusants and in the 17th and early
18th centuries the estate suffered a decline.
However, the family fortunes had
recovered by the 19th century and in 1828 - 31 Michael Henry Blount restored
the exterior in Elizabethan style and created new interiors. In the 20th
century the direct line of the Blount family died out and in 1943 the
Mapledurham estate passed by descent to the current owner, a member of one of
the county's oldest Catholic families. Today the house is run by the
Mapledurham Trust.
The Elizabethan house, set on sweeping
lawns, is H-shaped with attractive brickwork and tall chimneys. The
picturesque remains of the Lynde family's medieval house provide a great
contrast to the rather severe 16th century building that replaced it.
Although at first glance Mapledurham
appears to be an unaltered example of late-16th century domestic architecture
there have been several alterations. In the 18th century the chimneys
were rearranged and the original gables removed. The neo-Tudor porch was
added in the 1820s and at the same time the brickwork of the entrance front was
restored and the windows returned to their original mullioned and transomed
appearance.
The 18th century modifications to the
interior included moving the Hall to the centre of the main block and creating
a new Dining Room and Library on either side. The decoration in the Hall
dates from the mid-19th century but the carved animal heads and deer are from
the 17th and 18th centuries. The Hall is dominated by a magnificent portrait
of Sir Charles Blount, who died at the siege of Oxford during the Civil War, by William
Dobson. The simply decorated Library contains books bequeathed by the
poet Alexander Pope and portraits by Romney. In 1797 a private Catholic
chapel was added to the west side of the Hall. It was created in
'Strawberry Hill Gothic' and it still retains the elaborate Gothic
plasterwork. From the chapel a passage leads to the Staircase Hall which
has a mid-17th century wooden staircase hung with family portraits. The
ornate plasterwork ceiling dates from 1612.
The principal rooms on the first floor
were greatly altered in the late-18th century. The original Great
Chamber, now the Saloon, still retains its early 17th century plaster ceiling.
The room has some good 18th century furniture and family portraits, including
Martha and Teresa Boult, who Alexander Pope came to court at Mapledurham.
The adjacent Boudoir contains a portrait of Pope by Kneller, together with a
mirror and a landscape by John Wooton that once belonged to the poet.
From here the visitor passes through the State Bedroom and down a staircase to
the Dining Room. This is on the south side of the house and was decorated
in neo-classical style in 1828. On the wall is a superb full-length
portrait of Lady St John dated 1615 attributed to William Larkin.
The medieval part of Mapledurham House now contains a tea room.
1881: George Leslie -
I have never been inside Maple Durham House,
though I once trespassed a little, in order to have a good look at its
outside; but somehow I like it all the
better for not having seen its inside.
It is enough for me that the Blounts have lived there so long.
I like to keep its interior as I fancy it in
my mind, ghost-haunted, and invested with the glamour of mystery.
I am afraid lest the real inside might be too
modern, to comfortable, and that Martha Blount would
not be found at her needlework with her old aunts. The outside is seen just enough from the
river to make you wish for more, and set the fancy at work; I always pass by it with a little of the
feeling that I had as a child towards the door of a dark cellar in the house
where I was born. Long may Maple Durham
remain to me thus, embossomed in its mysterious trees, with many ghosts of
Blounts, of different ages, for its tenants, the plashing of the waters and
cawing of the rooks as its only sounds.
Maple Durham Church has an aisle or side chapel
in it, still reserved for the entombment of the Blunt family, which is an old
Catholic one, the church, in this respect, resembling the one at Arundel, about
which so much litigation has been going on of late. It is a sweet little church.
The living, with its comfortable vicarage, is
one of the fat things in the gift of Eton College.
from "The Forsyte Saga" John Galsworthy -
It was full late for the river, but the weather was lovely, and summer lingered
below the yellowing leaves. Soames took many looks at the day from his riverside
garden near Mapledurham that Sunday morning.
With his own hands he put flowers about his little house-boat, and equipped the punt,
in which, after lunch, he proposed to take them on the river.
Placing those Chinese-looking cushions, he could not tell whether or no
he wished to take Annette alone. She was so very pretty - could he trust himself
not to say irrevocable words, passing beyond the limits of discretion?
...
He proposed a turn on the river. But to punt two persons when one of them looked so ravishing
on those Chinese cushions was merely to suffer from a sense of lost opportunity;
so they went but a short way towards Pangbourne, drifting slowly back,
with every now and then an autumn leaf dropping on Annette or on her mother's black amplitude.
And Soames was not happy, ...
1972: Mapledurham House from the air, Frith -
Mapledurham House from the air, Frith
Map: Mapledurham Mill
Left bank mill stream
Close to Mapledurham House is a medieval
church, restored by William Butterfield, and a late 15th century watermill.
The watermill is in full working order and produces flour and bran which can be
purchased in the gift shop.
1873: Taunt's Map and Guide to the Thames -
About Mapledurham is one of the most lovely spots on the Thames ...
The view of the old mill at Mapledurham (the most picturesque on the river),
with the combination of the Church peeping over its roof, and embosomed in foliage,
forms one of the most tranquil scenes that it is possible to imagine,
and needs nothing to add to its beauty and harmony.
1906: G.E.Mitton -
The islands lying in the swirl of the weir-pool afford many a quiet nook in which to anchor, though landing is forbidden. From this it may be judged that if Mapledurham is a Paradise, it is sternly guarded with notices, which meet one on every side with the persistence of the flaming sword.
1300? King’s bench Trial concerning Mapledurham Weir.
Someone drew away from above the weir water
for his own purposes, and the owner of Purley Manor had to pay a fine of 200
marks, and to restore the water.
1881: George Leslie -
The mill is only a trifle too picturesque, if I may be allowed to say so, as it reminds one a little of the small paper models of old buildings which are sold by artists’ colourmen for young ladies to draw from.
1888: Mapledurham Mill, Henry Taunt -
Mapledurham Mill, Henry Taunt, 1888
© Oxfordshire County Council Photographic Archive; HT5151
1890: Mapledurham Mill, Francis Frith -
1890: Mapledurham Mill, Francis Frith
1891: The Stream of Pleasure, Joseph & Elizabeth Robins Pennell -
... Mapledurham Mill, a fair rival to Iffley, and Mapledurham Lock, which many people,
beside Dick in Mr Morris' Utopia, "think a very pretty place";
and on the other side of the lock Mapledurham House, of whose very beauty every one
tells you. But you cannot see it from the river, and its owner will not let you land.
His shores are barricaded by the sign "Private"; there is no inn in the village;
he has but lately asked the court to forbid fishermen to throw their lines in the Thames,
as it flows past his estate; and the only wonder is that he has not hung up a curtain
in front of the beautiful trees that line his river bank.
[ As an exercise in human sympathy you should now try to write the above paragraph from
the point of view of the land-owner. It will probably stick in your throat! ]
1906: Mapledurham Mill, Mortimer Menpes -
Mapledurham Mill, Mortimer Menpes, 1906
1906: G.E.Mitton -
The mill at Mapledurham is also a great delight to look upon, and numbers of artists sketch it from every point of view.
(Mapledurham Lock)
Estuary
PLA
QEII Br
Barrier
Tower Br
Custom Ho
London Br
; Frost Fairs
Cannon St Rb
The Great Stink
Southwark Br
Millenium Br
Blackfriars Rb
Blackfriars Br
Waterloo Br
Charing Cross Rb
Westminster Br
Lambeth Br
Vauxhall Br
Victoria Rb
Chelsea Br
Albert Br
Battersea Br
Battersea Rb
Wandsworth Br
Fulham Rb
Putney Br
Hammersmith Br
Barnes Rb
Chiswick Br
Kew Rb
Kew Br
RICHMOND
Twickenham Br
Richmond Rb
Richmond Br
TEDDINGTON
Kingston Rb
Kingston Br
Ditton Slip
Hampton Br
MOLESEY
SUNBURY
Walton Br
Desborough Cut
SHEPPERTON
Chertsey Br
CHERTSEY
M3 Br
Laleham Slip
PENTON HOOK
Staines Rb
Staines Br
Runnymede Br
BELL WEIR
Magna Carta Is
OLD WINDSOR
Albert Br
Datchet
Victoria Br
Black Potts Rb
ROMNEY
Eton
Windsor Br
Windsor Rb
Windsor Slip
Elizabeth Br
BOVENEY
Dorney Lake
York Cut
Summerleaze Fb
MonkeyIsland
New Thames Br
BRAY
Bray Slip
Maidenhead Rb
Maidenhead Br
Below Boulters
BOULTERS
Cliveden
Hedsor
COOKHAM
Cookham Slip
Cookham Br
BourneEnd RFb
Quarry Woods
A404 Br
MARLOW
Marlow Br
Bisham
TEMPLE
HURLEY
Medmenham
Culham Ct
Aston Slip
HAMBLEDEN
Temple Is
Fawley Ct
Remenham
Regatta
Phyllis Ct
Henley Slip
Leander
Red Lion
Henley Br
Angel on Br
Landing
Hobbs Boatyard
Hobbs Slipway
MARSH
Hennerton
Bolney
Wargrave
Shiplake Rb
R.Loddon
SHIPLAKE
Sonning Br
SONNING
Dreadnought
K&A Canal
CAVERSHAM
Reading Br
Caversham Br
Reading Slip
Purley
MAPLEDURHAM
Hardwick Ho
Whitchurch Br
WHITCHURCH
Hartswood Reach
Gatehampton Rb
Goring Gap
Goring Br
GORING
Swan
CLEEVE
Moulsford
Moulsford Rb
Papist Way Slip
Winterbrook Br
Wallingford Br
BENSON
Shillingford Br
R.Thame
DAYS
Burcot
Clifton Hampden
Clifton Church
Clifton H Br
Barley Mow
Long Wittenham
CLIFTON
Appleford Rb
Sutton Courtenay
Sutton Br
CULHAM
Culham Cut Fb
Abingdon Slip
Abingdon
Abingdon Br
ABINGDON
Nuneham Rb
Nuneham
Nuneham Park
Radley Boats
SANDFORD
Rose Island
Kennington Rb
Isis Br
Iffley Mill
IFFLEY
Oxford Rowing
Isis
Donnington Br
Riverside Slip
Boathouses
Punting
Lower Cherwell
Upper Cherwell
Islip
Head of River
Salters Steamers
Folly Br
Bacons Folly
Oxford Fb
Osney Fb
Weir stream
Osney Rb
Bullstake Stream
Osney Marina
OSNEY
Osney Br
Four Rivers
OLD RIVER
CANAL
Medley Weir Site
Medley Fb
Bossoms
Perch
Trout
GODSTOW
Godstow Nunnery
Godstow Br
Thames Br
KINGS
River Evenlode
EYNSHAM
Swinford Br
Oxford Cruisers
PINKHILL
Farmoor
Stanton Harcourt
Bablock Slip
Arks Weir Site
NORTHMOOR
Harts Fb
//Rose Revived
Newbridge
//Maybush
River Windrush
below Shifford
SHIFFORD
Shifford Fb
Tenfoot Fb
Trout Inn
Tadpole Br
RUSHEY
Old Mans Fb
RADCOT
Radcot Cradle Fb
Swan Inn
Radcot New Br
Radcot Old Br
GRAFTON
Eaton Hastings
Kelmscott
Eaton Fb
BUSCOT
Bloomers Hole Fb
Trout Inn
St Johns Br
ST JOHNS
Halfpenny Br
Marina Slip
LIMIT
Inglesham
Hannington Br
Kempsford
Castle Eaton Br
Marston Meysey
A419 Br
Cricklade
SOURCE?
THAMES HEAD
SEVEN SPRINGS