Cogges Manor Farm Museum
Encyclopedia
The original Manor House
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...

 was a Cotswold stone
Cotswold stone
Cotswold stone is a yellow oolitic limestone quarried in many places in the Cotswold Hills in the south midlands of England. When weathered, the colour of buildings made or faced with this stone is often described as 'honey' or 'golden'....

 building dating from the middle of the 13th century. It originally comprised four ranges built around a courtyard. Of these the 13th century kitchen and part of the hall survive from one range and the dairy incorporates remains of one of the other ranges. The other two ranges have been lost, but traces or foundations of both of them survive. In the 13th century the Manor had a large fishpond, but since 1984 part of the site of the pond has been covered by modern houses.

The manor house was probably built after Walter de Grey
Walter de Gray
Walter de Gray was an English prelate and statesman who rose to be Archbishop of York and Lord Chancellor.-Life:Gray was the son of John de Gray the Elder of Eaton in Norfolk and nephew of John de Gray , Bishop of Norwich. His sister, Hawise, married the Justiciar of England, Philip Basset...

, Archbishop of York
Archbishop of York
The Archbishop of York is a high-ranking cleric in the Church of England, second only to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and metropolitan of the Province of York, which covers the northern portion of England as well as the Isle of Man...

 bought part of the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...

 of Cogges in AD 1241. In 1242 the house was described as the Archbishop's Court. By 1245 the Archbishop had given Cogges Manor to his nephew Sir Robert de Grey, with whose heirs the house remained until 1485. More than once in its history the family used the house as a dower house
Dower house
On an estate, a dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the estate-owner. The widow, often known as the "dowager" usually moves into the dower house from the larger family house on the death of her husband if the heir is married, and upon his marriage if he...

 for the widows of successive Barons Grey of Rotherfield
Baron Grey of Rotherfield
The title of Baron Grey of Rotherfield was created once in the Peerage of England. On 25 August 1338 Sir John de Grey was summoned to parliament, who was invested as Knight, Order of the Garter ten years later...

.

During the 16th century the manor passed through various owners. One of them altered the mediaeval hall by inserting a first floor and adding a new, higher roof. The Blake family bought the manor in 1667 and added the current second wing to the house. In 1726 Daniel Blake sold Cogges Manor Farm to Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt
Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt
Simon Harcourt, 1st Viscount Harcourt, of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, PC was Queen Anne's Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. He was her solicitor-general and her commissioner for arranging the union with Scotland...

. The Harcourt family leased out Cogges Manor Farm until 1919, when the then tenants, the Mawle family, bought the freehold. In 1974 Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council, established in 1889, is the county council, or upper-tier local authority, for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire, in the South East of England, an elected body responsible for the most strategic local government services in the county.-History:County Councils...

 bought Cogges Manor Farm and converted the house and farmstead into a museum.

Museum

Cogges Manor Farm then operated as a living museum
Living museum
A living museum is a type of museum, in which historical events showing the life in ancient times are performed, especially in ethnographic or historical views, or processes for producing a commercial product in terms of technical and technological developments are shown, especially the craft...

 depicting rural life in Oxfordshire during the Victorian era
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

, subsidised by Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council, established in 1889, is the county council, or upper-tier local authority, for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire, in the South East of England, an elected body responsible for the most strategic local government services in the county.-History:County Councils...

. At the end of the summer season on 31 August 2009 the council withdrew funding and the museum closed. At the time it was reported that a new charitable trust intended to reopen the museum in April 2010.

2011 re-opening

In July 2011 Cogges Manor Farm re-opened, now operated by a charitable trust, the site and buildings being leased from Oxfordshire County Council. It is no longer a Museum in the conventional sense. Instead it is being developed as a place where families and individuals can relax, learn, and contribute voluntarily to its operation with the aim of giving visitors a better understanding of food and its production, both historically and today.

It is planned to change the farm from a museum to an active farmstead, run by an experienced smallholder who will live in the Manor House. Animals will be reared and vegetables grown for food. Through volunteering and training opportunities, courses and workshops, school learning activities and by seeing the work first-hand, visitors and volunteers will witness the ups and downs of small scale farming.

Displays and activities will explain how the Cogges Manor Farm site has developed since Saxon times, how its past residents made a living and how the farm has continually evolved in response to changing fortunes and opportunities. There will be play equipment and family trails that connect with this theme.

The intention is to develop the venue into a self-funding prime visitor attraction, hosting events such as food markets and a beer festival to supplement the running of the farm. UK Prime Minister and local MP David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....

visited the attraction in January 2011 prior to the re-opening and described the Trust's plans as "enterprising".

External links

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