Hanwell Castle

In the civil parish of Hanwell.
In the historic county of Oxfordshire (Modern Authority of Oxfordshire, 1974 county of Oxfordshire).

PastScape record read "Castellated manor house begun c.1498, by William Cope. Most of the building was demolished in the C18 and the remains used as a farmhouse. The south west tower and south wing survive from 1498. Five ornamental fishponds (probably C18) are nearby. Although called a castle this building has only sham fortifications." Called 'a very appealing and elegant house' by Leland. I am informed by Mr Christopher Taylor of Hanwell that "The house was not, in fact, complete at the time of its first builder's death - William Cope, ob. 1513 - and was finally completed by his heir, and only after legal coercion to that effect by William's executors, sometime in the 1520's. The date 1498, usually quoted in secondary sources, is actually that of the grant of the manor to Cope and it is unlikely that building commenced until some time later, or that any of the surviving architectural remains predate the early years of the C16. The building has not, in fact, been well studied at all and all the printed sources get it significantly wrong in some respect, from Parker who thought the surviving tower was a gatehouse - conclusive evidence that he never made an on-site inspection! - to the VCH, whose team, we believe, also never visited and who came up with the notion, rightly derided by Pevsner (who, however, only made a very cursory inspection and got it wrong in other respects) that the courtyard, though defined by 4 corner towers, was nevertheless open on the East side - it wasn't, of course. Incidentally, there is an unconfirmed story that the house was built primarily from stone salvaged from Deddington Castle, some 10 miles south of here; that is a 'real' castle, of course. As to the fishponds, they were working medieval manorial stewponds, not at all C18, or merely ornamental; there are some interesting references to the still-active upper pool in Robert Plot's 'Natural History of Oxfordshire' in the 1670's and there are yet remaining extensive traces of the 'House of Diversion' mentioned there, on the island in that pool - which have never been examined archaeologically."

This site has been described as a;
Masonry Castle.
This site is rejected as a medieval fortification or palace.
This site is a Grade 2* listed building protected by law*. (Images of England number 401739)

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SP43634360

Modern Map from Good for landscape form and features	Modern Map from Good for general location
Air Photo from	1st edition OS Map from

Sources of information, references and further reading

PastScape number; 337253