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Showing posts with the label Deserted Village

Nuneham House

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According to Wikipedia, this is a Palladian villa built in the 1750s-60s for Simon Harcourt, 1st Earl Harcourt, a British diplomat and general, with grounds later landscaped by Capability Brown. The old village of Nuneham Courtenay was uprooted to make way for the house and grounds and was recreated a mile away on the Oxford to Dorchester road (now the A4074). Destruction of the old village has been linked to the Deserted Village, in the poem of that name by Oliver Goldsmith. During World War II, it was used by the RAF, home to a photographic reconnaissance interpretation unit. It is now owned by Oxford University (their Harcourt Arboretum is also nearby) and the building used as a retreat centre.