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 [see History].
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, 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