Garden Seat Next to River Cherwell, and Garden Walls, Doorways and Gateway to East of Rousham Park is a Grade II* listed building in the West Oxfordshire local planning authority area, England. First listed on 27 August 1957. Garden seat, garden walls, gateway.

Garden Seat Next to River Cherwell, and Garden Walls, Doorways and Gateway to East of Rousham Park

WRENN ID
mired-pewter-briar
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
West Oxfordshire
Constituency
Bicester and Woodstock MP: Calum Miller (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
27 August 1957
Type
Garden seat, garden walls, gateway
OS grid reference
SP 480 242
Coordinates
51.9146, -1.30328
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The garden seat next to the River Cherwell and the associated garden walls, doorways, and gateway to the east of Rousham House were created between 1733 and 1740 by the architect William Kent. The garden seat is made of limestone ashlar and rubble, positioned against a garden wall featuring six half-columns in recesses. The limestone rubble wall is approximately 30 meters long and connects to three kitchen garden walls that date from the late 17th century to the early 19th century. This wall is constructed of coursed limestone and measures about 30 by 40 meters to the northeast.

To the west, there is a similar wall with an inner wall made of Flemish bond brick with flared headers, measuring approximately 100 by 55 meters. A semi-circular stone arch leads over a mid-18th century wrought-iron gateway to the west, while a 17th-century pointed chamfered doorway is located to the east. Additionally, there is a similar 17th-century square-headed doorway that leads to the churchyard within walls measuring approximately 30 by 90 meters, with a dovecote located to the southwest. This site is part of the landscape gardens that were designed by William Kent during the specified period. Rousham Park is also recognized in the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission Register of Parks and Gardens at Grade I.

Local climate

Garden Seat Next to River Cherwell, and Garden Walls, Doorways and Gateway to East of Rousham Park sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 740 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 76% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 69% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 37 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 66% of listed buildings. Of these, 17 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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