- Whittington Court
Infobox Historic building
caption=
name=Whittington Court
location_town=Whittington
location_country=England
architect=
client=Robert Bruce Cotton
engineer=
construction_start_date=
completion_date=1556
date_demolished=
cost=
structural_system=
style=Whittington Court is an Elizabethan manor house, five miles east of
Cheltenham inGloucestershire ,England .Adjacent to the house is the Whittington parish church which dates from the 12th century and is now dedicated to
St Bartholomew . [cite web | title= Church of St. Bartholomew | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=129243 | accessdate=2006-12-31]The origins of the site are unclear, but probably date back to Anglo-Saxon times, however in 1948 the remains of a
Roman villa were found in an adjacent field. [cite web | title=Whittington Court Roman Villa, Glos.: A Report of theExcavations undertaken from 1948 to 1951 | work=Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society | url=http://www.glos.ac.uk/bgas/tbgas/v071/bg071013.pdf | accessdate=2006-12-31]The current building was probably begun by
Robert Bruce Cotton , and his sonJohn Cotton in 1556 on an earlier moated site. It was completed in anticipation ofQueen Elizabeth I 's visit to the house in 1592 en route toSudeley Castle . [cite web | title=Whittington Court | work=Historic Houses of Gloucestershire | url=http://www.touruk.co.uk/houses/Whittington-Court-Gloucestershire.htm | accessdate=2006-12-31] Subsequently passed to Sir John Denham, who married Anne Cotton and died 1669, [cite web | title=The Cottons at Whittington Court | work=Architectural History, Vol. 44, Essays in Architectural History Presented to John Newman (2001), pp. 303-309 | url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0066-622X(2001)44%3C303%3ATCAWC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-J | accessdate=2006-12-31] and was Surveyor General to Charles II. It then passed through the female line to theEarls of Derby and by the mid-late 18th century belonged toThomas Tracey theMember of Parliament forGloucester , who died in 1770. Misses Timbrell and Mrs. Rebecca Lighbourne inherited the property but left no heir, the house passing to Mr. Walter Lawrence Morris and subsequently to his descendants who adopted the name Lawrence. Alterations and additions were made in the 16th, late 17th and early 18th centuries. In the mid-18th century the estate was sold and became part of theSandywell Park estate. The kitchen wing was added 1929. It is a grade Ilisted building . [cite web | title=Whittington Court | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=129247 | accessdate=2006-12-31]The interior of the house is
Elizabethan and contain two carved overmantels fromSevenhampton Manor - one showing the arms ofLawrence Washington (1602–1655) (the stars and stripes). [cite web | title=Whittington Court | work=Historic Houses Association | url=http://www.hha.org.uk/index.php?page=87&ContentID=88 | accessdate=2006-12-31]A barn dated 1614 [cite web | title=Barn c65m north-west of Whittington Court | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=129249 | accessdate=2006-12-31] and stable block are both grade II listed. [cite web | title=Stable block c65m west of Whittington Court | work=Images of England | url=http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?id=129248 | accessdate=2006-12-31]
Since 1972 a disused gardener's cottage at Whittington Court has been the home to The Whittington Press. [cite web | title=Whittington Press Collection | work=University of Gloucestershire | url=http://www.glos.ac.uk/departments/lis/archives/whitpress.cfm | accessdate=2006-12-31]
References
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