Bicester House

Bicester House is a manor house, largely dating from the early 18th century, with elements from the 17th century. It was expanded and remodelled around 1780 and altered again around 1820. The house is constructed of coursed squared limestone with ashlar dressings, and has a Welsh-slate roof with stone stacks.

The main, symmetrical five-window, two-storey entrance front is probably largely from the early 18th century. It features stone-architraved twelve-pane sash windows and a central doorway, now protected by a later stone Doric porch. Alterations around 1780 included an arched head to the central first-floor window, a stone cornice, and a balustraded parapet. At this time, the storeyband was reduced and a second band removed, suggesting a former third storey.

The eight-window garden front, originally dating to around 1780, has a matching cornice and parapet, taller windows, and a first-floor sill band. The front breaks back in the two left bays, which have blind windows, balanced by two bays to the right which were destroyed around 1820. A large early 19th-century tripartite sash window replaces the former main entrance and porch in the middle two bays, and a full-height 19th-century canted section, containing three windows on each floor, has been added where two bays previously stood. The double-span roof is hipped where it returns around the entrance range.

A range to the left of the entrance front has three storeys of irregularly arranged sash windows and appears to contain little of the late 17th-century facade depicted in an engraving. However, the double-gabled rear wall retains one cross window.

The interior of the entrance range includes three rooms with mid-18th century fielded panelling and dentil cornices. One of these rooms contains a contemporary corner cupboard with an arched panelled door, serpentine display shelves, and a late 18th-century Adam-style fireplace featuring arabesques, festoons, and an oxhead in the carved frieze. The other two panelled rooms have early 18th-century marble fireplaces with serpentine heads and keyblocks, one with a fluted keyblock and the other with fluted pilasters, reflecting remains of a contemporary pilastered overmantel incorporated into later panelling. The two-storey entrance hall has a small early/mid 18th-century japanned fireplace and an early 19th-century cantilevered oak staircase with a 20th-century balustrade. The earlier range retains some 17th-century beams, one with ogee moulding. The garden range contains large rooms with early 19th-century fireplaces, ceilings and joinery.

The house occupies the site of the former manor house of the Nuns of Markyate. John Coker purchased the property in 1584, and it remained the home of the Coker family until 1978.