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Stonor

Stonor

Stonor is one of the very few houses in England that has remained in the same family from the earliest records to the present day and has been home to The Lord and Lady Camoys and the Stonor family for 850 years. The history of the house inevitably contributes to the atmosphere, at once unpretentious yet grand. A facade of warm brick with Georgian windows conceals much older buildings dating back to the 12th Century and a 14th Century Catholic Chapel sits on the south east corner. Stonor nestles in a fold of the beautiful wooded Chiltern Hills and has breathtaking views of the surrounding park where Fallow deer have grazed since medieval times. It contains many family portraits, old Master drawings and paintings, Renaissance bronzes and tapestries, along with rare furniture and a collection of modern ceramics. St Edmund Campion sought refuge at Stonor during the Reformation and printed his famous pamphlet ‘Ten Reasons’ here, in secret, on a press installed in the roof space. A small exhibition celebrates his life and work. Mass has been celebrated since medieval times in the Chapel and is sited close by a pagan stone prayer circle. The painted and stained glass windows were executed by Francis Eginton, and installed in 1797. The Chapel decoration is that of the earliest Gothic Revival, begun in 1759, with additions in 1797. The Stations of the Cross seen in the lobby, were carved by Jozef Janas, a Polish prisoner of war in World War II and given to Stonor by Graham Greene in 1956. The gardens offer outstanding views of the Park and valley and are especially beautiful in May and June, containing fine displays of daffodils, irises, peonies, lavenders and roses along with other herbaceous plants and shrubs.