Barton Abbey

STEEPLE BARTON SP42SE 4/261 Barton Abbey GV II* House. Built c.1570 for John Dormer; altered in late C17; rebuilt 1849-62 by S.S. Teulon for Henry Hall; further alterations of c.1890. Squared and coursed ironstone; gabled stone slate roof with moulded stone coping; moulded ashlar stacks. Linear plan with service wing to left. Tudor Picturesque style. 2 storeys and attic; 10-window range to asymmetrical gabled front. 2-storey porch has corner buttresses, Perpendicular-style doorway, studded doorway and oriel window above with hollow-moulded stone-mullioned and arch-headed lights. Hood moulds over similar and 3-light mullioned windows, some transomed. 3-bay crenellated loggia of c.1890 to right. One-storey service range extends from front to join stables (q.v.). Right-end gable has gabled dormer set on canted bay, and canted bay with French-style pyramidal roof to rear. Centre of rear elevation has 2 gables and polygonal stair-turret of late C16 house: hood moulds over similar mullioned windows of up to 4 lights, and chamfered light and hood mould over 4-centred arched doorway to stair-turret. Mid/late C19 block with pyramidal roof to rear left. Interior: mid C19 panelling and Jacobean-style carved overmantels in main 3 ground floor rooms and elaborate dog-leg stairs in central stair hall. Late C16 stair-turret to rear has closed well staircase has stop-chamfered doorways, C17 panelled door to attic and 4-centred moulded wood doorway with carved spandrels. House named Barton Abbey from erroneous belief that it stood on site of former cell of Osney Abbey. (Buildings of England: Oxfordshire: p788; VCH: Oxfordshire: Vol XI, p64; Bodleian Library, MS. Top. Oxon. C.522 (top) F.5v. for 1868 drawing)

Listing NGR: SP4530324963