Boscobel House was created in 1632 when John Giffard of White Ladies Priory converted a timber-framed farmhouse, built some time in the 16th century on the lands of White Ladies Priory, into a hunting lodge.
It has had many uses over the years but it is most famous for its role in the escape of Charles II after the Battle of Worcester in 1651 during the English Civil War. Initially Charles was led to White Ladies Priory to Bosobel he spent the day in the nearby Oak tree and the night in a priest hole in Boscobel House. Charles escaped to the continent and was restored to the throne in 1660.
The house later fell to near ruin and the Evans family rescued it in the 19th century.
The tree gave rise to the common pub name "The Royal Oak".
The Royal Oak. The tree standing on the site today is not the original Royal Oak, which is recorded to have been destroyed during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by tourists who cut off branches and chunks as souvenirs. The present day tree is believed to be a two or three hundred year-old descendant of the original and it was it was struck by lightening in 2001.
The priest hole.
White Ladies Priory (as it is now known, it was the Priory of St Leonard at Brewood) can be reached by a gentle one mile walk from the House. The fields were alive with Skylarks and very showy!
The priory was for Augustinian canonesses.
2 comments:
Yay! Been to both those too :) Both super places. I think additions and new features have been added now to Boscobel House since we visited. Lovely photos Pete. You've visited some wonderful places :) Have you been to Leigh Court Barn (Worcestershire)? Been reading about that and it looks good.
I've never been to Leigh ..... I'll have to look...
Boscobel is a nice place, they've made a few changes. It's well done
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