 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(August 2017) |
 Cogges Manor Farm – the House | |
 | |
| Established | 1974 |
|---|---|
| Location | Cogges |
| Coordinates | 51°47′03″N1°28′41″W / 51.78417°N 1.47795°W |
| Type | heritage centre |
| Website | www |
Cogges Manor Farm is a one-time working farm in Cogges near Witney [1] in Oxfordshire, England, now a heritage centre operated by a charitable trust and open to the public. [2]
The aim of Cogges Manor Farm is to give visitors an insight into farm life, and how the food they eat is husbanded or cultivated.[ citation needed ] Additionally it provides workshops for school children and adults about food production, local history, horticulture and rural arts and crafts. The grounds and the medieval barns are used for traditional festivals, theatrical performances and private functions.
It also serves the community as a recreational facility where families can meet and feed the animals, enjoy the ambience of the farmyard, the orchard and a traditional walled vegetable garden, and wander around the woodland site of a disused moat on the banks of the Windrush.[ citation needed ]
Though close to the busy centre of Witney, the Farm is surrounded by common land and pasture, giving it a remarkably rural feel.[ citation needed ]
Though not geographically in the Cotswolds the buildings of the Farm and the older parts of Witney have many of the characteristics of a Cotswold settlement. It lies within the boundary of the ancient Royal Hunting Forest of Wychwood. [3]
The original manor house was a Cotswold stone building dating from the middle of the 13th century. [4] It originally comprised four ranges built around a courtyard. Of these the 13th century kitchen and part of the hall survive from one range and the dairy incorporates remains of one of the other ranges. The other two ranges have been lost, but traces or foundations of both of them survive. [5] In the 13th century the Manor had a large fishpond, but since 1984 part of the site of the pond has been covered by modern houses. [5]
The manor house was probably built after Walter de Grey, Archbishop of York bought part of the manor of Cogges in AD 1241. [5] In 1242 the house was described as the Archbishop's Court. [5] By 1245 the Archbishop had given Cogges Manor to his nephew Sir Robert de Grey, with whose heirs the house remained until 1485. [6] More than once in its history the family used the house as a dower house [6] for the widows of successive Barons Grey of Rotherfield.
During the 16th century, the manor passed through various owners. [5] One of them altered the mediaeval hall by inserting a first floor and adding a new, higher roof. [4] The Blake family bought the manor in 1667 and added the current second wing to the house. [6] In 1726, Daniel Blake sold Cogges Manor Farm to Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt. [6] The Harcourt family leased out Cogges Manor Farm until 1919, when the then tenants, the Mawle family, bought the freehold. [6] In 1974 Oxfordshire County Council bought Cogges Manor Farm and converted the house and farmstead into a museum. [6]
Cogges Manor Farm then operated as a living museum depicting rural life in Oxfordshire during the Victorian era, subsidised by Oxfordshire County Council. [7] At the end of the summer season on 31 August 2009 the council withdrew funding and the museum closed. At the time it was reported that a new charitable trust intended to reopen the museum in April 2010. [8] [9] [10]
In July 2011, Cogges Manor Farm re-opened, now operated by a charitable trust, [11] the site and buildings being leased from Oxfordshire County Council [12] at a 'peppercorn rent' that is in practice a basket of apples. [13] It is no longer a Museum in the conventional sense. Instead it is being developed as a place where families and individuals can relax, learn, and contribute voluntarily to its operation with the aim of giving visitors a better understanding of food and its production, both historically and today.
The Farm has been changed from a museum to an educational and recreational heritage site. Small farmyard animals such as chickens, ducks, pigs and goats are husbanded using traditional methods and vegetables are grown for food in a classical 'walled garden'. The transition has been accomplished chiefly by the efforts of volunteers under the direction of a minimal management team.
The concept is that through volunteering and training opportunities, courses and workshops, school learning activities and by seeing the work first-hand, visitors and volunteers are able to appreciate the ups and downs of small scale farming. [14]
Displays and activities, coupled with conducted tours, explain how the Cogges Manor Farm site has developed since Saxon times, how its past residents made a living and how the farm has continually evolved in response to changing fortunes and opportunities. The hitherto neglected and overgrown medieval moated area, after being sensitively cleared by volunteers, provides play opportunities and family trails that connect with this theme.
The intention is to develop the venue into a self-funding prime visitor attraction, hosting events such as food markets and a beer festival to supplement admission fees. [15]
With support from local businesses the surfaces of the open yards and the interiors of the two barns have been improved while retaining their essential period atmosphere. The site has been used successfully for theatre productions, both in the open air on the lawns [16] and in the barns. The barns have become popular locations for wedding receptions. Such special events promise to yield an income stream that will enable the Trust to become sustainable.
UK Prime Minister and local MP David Cameron visited the attraction in January 2011 prior to the re-opening and described the Trust's plans as "enterprising". [17] [18] He visited again on 13 September 2013, when he congratulated the Trust on its successful operation to date.[ citation needed ] He returned again in July 2015 as part of celebrations of the 800th anniversary of the signing of Magna Carta. [19]
Cogges Manor Farm also doubles up as the fictional Yew Tree Farm in the hit TV series Downton Abbey . [2]
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Oxfordshire is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Gloucestershire to the west. The city of Oxford is the largest settlement and county town.
Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is 12 miles (19 km) west of Oxford. The place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest known record of it is as Wyttannige in a Saxon charter of 969. The Domesday Book of 1086 records it as Witenie.
Charlbury is a town and civil parish in the Evenlode valley, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Witney in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England. It is on the edge of Wychwood Forest and the Cotswolds. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,830.
Woodstock is a market town and civil parish, 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Oxford in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 3,100.
Eynsham is an English village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about 5 miles (8 km) north-west of Oxford and east of Witney. The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 4,648. It was estimated at 5,087 in 2020.
Stonesfield is a village and civil parish about 5 miles (8 km) north of Witney in Oxfordshire, and about 10 miles (17 km) north-west of Oxford. The village is on the crest of an escarpment. The parish extends mostly north and north-east of the village, in which directions the land rises gently and then descends to the River Glyme at Glympton and Wootton about 3 miles (5 km) to the north-east. South of Stonesfield, below the escarpment, is the River Evenlode which touches the southern edge of the parish. At the centre of Stonesfield stands the 13th-century church of St James the Great as well as a Wesleyan chapel, Stonesfield Methodist Church, slightly further west. The village is known for Stonesfield slate, a form of Cotswold stone mined particularly as a roofing stone and also a rich source of fossils. The architecture in Stonesfield features many old Cotswold stone properties roofed with locally mined slate along with some late 20th-century buildings and several properties under construction. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,527.
Long Hanborough is a village in Hanborough civil parish, about 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Witney in West Oxfordshire, England. The village is the major settlement in Hanborough parish. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,630.
Milton-under-Wychwood is an English village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Burford, Oxfordshire, just off the A361 road between Burford and Chipping Norton. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,648.
Cogges is an area beside the River Windrush in Witney, Oxfordshire, 0.5 miles (800 m) east of the town centre. It had been a separate village and until 1932 it was a separate civil parish.
Leafield is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Witney in West Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Langley, 1 mile (1.6 km) west of Leafield village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 945. The village is 635 feet (194 m) above sea level in the Cotswold Hills. It was the highest point in Oxfordshire until the 1974 county boundary changes enlarged the county.
Yarnton is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about 1 mile (1.6 km) southwest of Kidlington and 4 miles (6 km) northwest of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 2,545.
Northmoor is a village and civil parish in West Oxfordshire, about 6 miles (10 km) west of Oxford and almost the same distance southeast of Witney. Northmoor is in the valley of the River Thames, which bounds the parish to the east and south, and is close to the River Windrush which forms part of the parish's western boundary. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 377.
Stanton Harcourt is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Witney and about 6 miles (10 km) west of Oxford. The parish includes the hamlet of Sutton, 1⁄2 mile (800 m) north of the village. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 960.
Cassington is a village and civil parish in Oxfordshire about 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Oxford. The village lies on gravel strata about 1⁄2 mile (800 m) from the confluence of the River Evenlode with the River Thames. The parish includes the hamlet of Worton northeast of the village and the site of the former hamlet of Somerford to the south. Somerford seems to have been abandoned early in the 14th century. Cassington is formed of two parts, "upper" and "lower", each with its own village green. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 750.
North Leigh is a village and civil parish about 3 miles (5 km) northeast of Witney in Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of East End and since 1932 has also included the hamlet of Wilcote. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,929.
South Leigh is a village and civil parish on Limb Brook, a small tributary of the River Thames, about 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) east of Witney in Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 336.
Eynsham railway station served the Oxfordshire town of Eynsham and the Eynsham Sugar Beet Factory on the Oxford, Witney and Fairford Railway between Oxford and Witney.
Hailey is a village and civil parish about 2 miles (3 km) north of Witney, Oxfordshire. The village comprises three neighbourhoods: Middletown on the main road between Witney and Charlbury, Poffley End on the minor road to Ramsden and Delly End on Whiting's Lane. The parish extends from the River Windrush in the south, almost to the village of Ramsden and the hamlet of Wilcote in the north, and it includes the hamlet of New Yatt. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 1,208.
Wilcote is a hamlet about 3+1⁄2 miles (5.6 km) north of Witney in Oxfordshire, England.
Thomas Rayson was an architect who practised in Oxford, England, and also a watercolourist.