Berkshire

Heritage Attractions

Heritage

Castles, Historic Monuments, etc

ETON COLLEGE

Windsor, SL4 6DW
Tel: 01753 671177       Fax: 01753 671029
Web: www.etoncollege.com

The College dates back to 1440 and was founded by King Henry VI. Tours include the Cloisters, the Chapel, the oldest classroom in the College and the Museum of Eton Life.

For further information about the college, see our website.

HIGHCLERE CASTLE

Highclere Park, Newbury, Berkshire, RG20 9RN
Tel: 01635 253210       Fax: 01635 255315
E-mail: theoffice@highclerecastle.co.uk
Web: www.highclerecastle.co.uk

Spectacular Victorian Castle set amidst dazzling Parkland is open for tours, conferences, weddings, and private dining.

A 'Monk's Garden', so named because this was where the monks used to grow their vegetables, still exists at Highclere. For further information about the castle please see our website.

Cathedrals, Churches, etc

SANDHAM MEMORIAL CHAPEL

Harts Lane, Burghclere, nr Newbury, RG20 9JT
Tel: 01635 278394     Fax: 01635 278394
E-mail: sandham@nationaltrust.org.uk
Web: www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Opening times: Wed - Sun: 11.00am - 3.00pm, March - Oct, Wed - Sun: 11.00am - 5.00pm April - Oct. Admission fee please contact to confirm, FREE entry for National Trust Members.

Chapel containing Stanley Spencer’s visionary paintings. This red-brick chapel was built in the 1920s to house paintings by the artist Stanley Spencer, inspired by his experiences in the First World War.

Influenced by Giotto’s Arena Chapel in Padua, Spencer took five years to complete what is arguably his finest achievement. The chapel is set amidst lawns and orchards with views across Watership Down.

For further details on Sandham Memorial Chapel, near Newbury, Hampshire see our website.

Stately Homes & Gardens, Country Houses, etc

MAPLEDURHAM HOUSE AND WATERMILL

The Estate Office, Mapledurham, Reading, RG4 7TR
Tel: 0118 972 3350     Fax: 0118 972 4016
E-mail: Mtrust1997@aol.com
Web: www.mapledurham.co.uk

Mapledurham House and Watermill nestle snugly along side the river Thames in South Oxfordshire. The house is Elizabethan and has been the family home of the Blounts for over 500 years.

 
Visitors to the house will see a collections of portraits and paintings, original ceilings, grand oak staircases and the beautiful chapel decorated in Strawberry Hill Gothick.

The watermill is the last remaining on the river Thames and still produces flour which is available (together with its by products) for in the well stocked gift shop. Cream teas, made from the flour milled in the watermill, are available together with a selection of delicious cakes.

We open on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays from Easter until the end of September. For full details please call 0118 9723350 or visit www.mapledurham.co.uk

18th-century country house set in extensive parkland.

This beautiful Palladian mansion was built in 1776–83 by John Carr for Francis Sykes, who had made his fortune in India.

The interior is notable for its original delicate plasterwork and elegant staircase, as well as for the unusual Octagon Room.

The house fell on hard times in the early part of the last century, but was rescued by Lord and Lady Iliffe, who restored it and filled it with fine pictures and furniture.

Basildon House -
Photo: Pam Brophy CCL

17th-century house, perched on the Berkshire Downs.


This extraordinary Dutch-style house is famous for its association with Elizabeth of Bohemia (‘The Winter Queen’), Charles I’s sister, to whom the house was ‘consecrated’.


The interior has an impressive great staircase rising from hall to attic, and important paintings contemporary with the house.

Ashdown House -
Photo: David McManamon CCL

Cliveden - Photo: DS Pugh CCL

Grade I listed garden, extensive woodlands and Italianate mansion.


This spectacular estate overlooking the River Thames has a series of gardens, each with its own character, featuring topiary, statuary, water gardens, a formal parterre, Octagon temple, informal vistas, woodland and riverside walks.

The present house, the third on the site, was built by Charles Barry for the Duke of Sutherland in 1851.

While more than a million visitors each year file through imposing Windsor Castle, a retiring monument to royal family life goes virtually unnoticed less than a mile southeast.



Located in the aptly named Home Park in Berkshire, the entire Frogmore estate might simply be the hereditary home of an important upper class English family, and, in a sense, that's exactly what it is. More...

Frogmore House  Photo: Gill Hicks CCL