Waterperry is a village beside the
River Thame
The River Thame is a river in Southern England. A tributary of the River Thames, the river runs generally south-westward for about from its source above the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury to the Thames in south-east Oxfordshire.
Course
...
, about east of
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
in Oxfordshire and close to the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. The
Church of England parish church of
Saint Mary the Virgin
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
is partly
Saxon and has notable medieval
stained glass, sculptural memorials, Georgian
box pew
A box pew is a type of church pew that is encased in panelling and was prevalent in England and other Protestant countries from the 16th to early 19th centuries.
History in England
Before the rise of Protestantism, seating was not customary in ch ...
s and
memorial brasses.
The
2011 Census combined data for the village with
Waterstock
Waterstock is a village and civil parish on the River Thame about west of the market town of Thame in Oxfordshire. The parish is bounded to the north and west by the river, to the south largely by the A418 main road, and to the east largely by ...
, due to the small population of the village.
Waterperry House is a 17th-century mansion, remodelled early in the 18th century for Sir John Curson and again around 1820. It is now a house of seven
bays and three storeys with a balustraded parapet and
Ionic porch.
The house has extensive grounds, and until 1971 housed the
Waterperry School of Horticulture under
Beatrix Havergal. Since 1971 the house has been owned and used as a country retreat by the
School of Economic Science
The School of Philosophy and Economic Science (SPES), also operating under the names the School of Philosophy and the School of Practical Philosophy and legally named the School of Economic Science (SES), is a worldwide organisation based in ...
. The gardens are now a horticultural business and visitor destination,
Waterperry Gardens. The of gardens include rose and alpine gardens, a formal
knot garden
A knot garden is a garden of formal design in a square frame, consisting of a variety of aromatic plants and culinary herbs including germander, marjoram, thyme, southernwood
''Artemisia abrotanum'', the southernwood, lad's love, or southern ...
, trained fruit and nursery beds and a riverside walk. The grounds also have nurseries, orchards, plant centre and teashop. Gardening courses are still taught here. The grounds host the annual
Art in Action festival of art and craft each July.
Art in Action: Waterperry House and Garden Tours
/ref>
References
Sources and further reading
*
*
*
External links
* ttp://www.waterperrygardens.co.uk/ Waterperry Gardensbr>Art in Action
Villages in Oxfordshire
South Oxfordshire District
{{Oxfordshire-geo-stub
