Thursday 9th July 2026

Oxfordshire 

To save the expense of hiring a coach, this visit is a self-drive one and starts at 10:30 am.

Home to the Stonor family for over 850 years, Stonor Park is one of the oldest occupied houses in England. Behind the warm red brick facade Stonor is actually a collection of much older buildings. In fact its origins go back to Medieval times, dating from the late 12th century, .with the chapel added around a hundred years later. Since then, a series of additions and renovations, including the adoption of the E-shape in around 1540 have evolved into the extraordinary building you can see today.

Highlights include the grand Gothic revival hall, atmospheric 17th century library and the dramatic long gallery opening on to beautiful Italianate gardens. The fortunes of the house and chapel are strongly tied to the travails of the Catholics in Britain. When Henry VIII formed the Church of England in the 1530s Catholics, including the Stonor family were forced to take a much-reduced part in public life. At Stonor there is a poignant reminder of these times in the roof space and priesthole where Sir Edmund Campion hid whilst printing the famous Ten Reasons pamphlet  in the 1580s.

 Our visit there includes coffee or tea, and biscuits on arrival in the old hall followed by the guided tour of the chapel and then around the house. A sit-down lunch will be served in the Medieval Hall followed by a guided tour of the garden.

The price for this is £43 per person.

Please include any dietary requests on your booking form.