Boxwell Court - from the Monarchs Way - geograph

Boxwell Court is a country house near Leighterton in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, England, about 5 km or 3 miles east of

Wotton-under-Edge Wotton-under-Edge is a market town within the Stroud district of Gloucestershire, England. Located near the southern fringe of the Cotswolds, the Cotswold Way long-distance footpath passes through the town. Standing on the B4058, Wotton is ab ...

, dating from the 15th and 16th centuries. It is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

History

The house is thought to be the site of a former

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

, associated with

Gloucester Abbey Gloucester Abbey was a Benedictine abbey in the city of Gloucester, England. Since 1541 it has been Gloucester Cathedral. History Early period A Christian place of worship had stood on the abbey site since Anglo-Saxon times. Around 681, with ...

. Nothing remains of the monastery or nunnery except a holy well. The estate was given to the Huntley family following Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries. The House has been in the Huntley family continuously since that time; it is believed that the family have lived on the site for 600 years. The estate is approximately , which although large in today's terms, is small compared to the size of the Huntleys' former Gloucestershire estates which included

Woodchester Woodchester is a Gloucestershire village in the Nailsworth (or Woodchester) Valley, a valley in the South Cotswolds in England, running southwards from Stroud along the A46 road to Nailsworth. The parish population taken at the 2011 census was ...

and

Frocester Frocester ( ) is a village and civil parish in Stroud District, Gloucestershire, England. It lies below the Cotswold escarpment, 10 miles south of Gloucester and 4 miles west of Stroud. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 194, d ...

. The estate is known for its box wood, which used to provide a very large income to the Huntleys. The house has been frequented by royalty; Prince Rupert stayed in the house on several occasions. There is a story that King Charles II, when fleeing from the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell d ...

, stayed on the estate and, in gratitude to the family, gave them his ring which remains in the family's possession. The

Monarch's Way The Monarch's Way is a long-distance footpath in England that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651 after being defeated in the Battle of Worcester. It runs from Worcester via Bristol and Yeovil to Shoreham, West Su ...

which runs past the house is a long-distance footpath that approximates the escape route taken by King Charles II in 1651.

Architecture

The

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

"L"-shaped building has stone slate roofs. It has two storeys plus an attic. The house has been revised and remodelled many times over the centuries, giving it an irregular appearance. The north front has a door in the centre with a fanlight above it. The side of the building to the west was remodelled in 1796 and has bow and curved sash windows below a

parapet A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). ...

. The southern side has two projecting wings. The courtyard has a curtain wall and a castellated entrance.

St Mary's Church

In the grounds of the house is a small Grade II* listed church, St Mary's Boxwell. It was built in the 13th century and the north

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

was added in the 14th. The church contains memorials to the Huntley family.

References

{{coord, 51, 37, 58.5, N, 2, 16, 22, W, scale:100000, display=title Country houses in Gloucestershire Grade II* listed houses Grade II* listed buildings in Gloucestershire Cotswold District