Cokethorpe School

HARDWICK WITH YELFORD STANDLAKE ROAD SP3706 (West side) Cokethorpe 19/197 Cokethorpe School 12/09/55 (Formerly listed as Cokethorpe House)

GV II*

Country house, now school. Built 1709 for Sir Simon Harcourt, of which south front survives; extended to rear c.1730 and refronted 1780; interior remodelled in 1913. Limestone ashlar; hipped stone slate roof; moulded ashlar stacks. U-plan with 2 rear wings. Georgian style. Symmetrical 2-storey elevations. Front of 2:3:2 fenestration has flat arches over tall horned sashes; canted central bay has doorway with pulvinated frieze, and porch to front with unfluted Ionic columns and balustraded parapet. Moulded eaves cornice and similar parapet across front. Left (south) side wall of c.1710: pedimented 6-window range of horned 6-pane sashes, set in moulded segmental-arched architraves with keyblocks which touch storey band; similar cornice and parapet. T-shaped east wing of c.1730 to rear right; of 9-window range with projecting outer blocks and keyed flat arches over tall horned sashes on right side wall. Smaller 2-storey early C18 service range to rear left, of similar materials; chamfered stone-mullioned windows and 2 doors (one with C18 Norfolk latch) set in beaded architraves. Interior: much remodelling in 1913. Hall has panelling and fireplace dated 1913; panelling and fireplace with acanthus-leaf borders in room to rear; panelled stair hall to rear left has dog-leg stairs with turned balusters. North wing (to right) has similar service stairs with C18 dado panelling rising to first-floor gallery with C18 dado panelling, and moulded cornice; ground-floor room to front has acanthus-leaf bordering to panelling, possibly c.1730 (Pevsner) but with later alteration, and overmantle with swags of c.1750. South wing (to left) has small mid C18 panelled closet to rear right; early C18 bolection-moulded panelling and fireplace and oval plasterwork ceiling in room to rear; room to front has belection-moulded panelling with Corinthian pilasters and screen, bolection-moulded marble fireplace and overmantel and similar plaster ceilings. Attic of north wing has C16 bricks and some reused beams carved H for Harcourt. Cokethorpe House was sold to Maximdean Western, a Director of the East India Company, in 1908: it became a school in 1955. (National Monuments Record; Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, pp.633-4; Oxfordshire Museum, Woodstock, PRN 11202).

Listing NGR: SP3714806184