Everything about Fawley Court totally explained
Fawley Court stands on the banks of the
River Thames at
Fawley in the
English county of
Buckinghamshire, just north of
Henley-on-Thames.
The site has been occupied for around a thousand years. The name "Fawley" comes from the
Old English word for
fallow deer. It is located about half way along the
Henley Royal Regatta course.
After the
Norman Conquest, Fawley Manor was given by
William I to his brother-in-law,
Walter Gifford, who was one of the leading compilers of the
Domesday Book.
In 1616, Fawley was sold to Sir
James Whitelocke, a
judge who also bought
Phyllis Court and
Henley Park. His son, Sir
Bulstrode Whitelocke, was a
parliamentarian and also a judge. During the
Civil War, Fawley was the scene of fighting between the
Roundheads and
Royalist troops commanded by
Prince Rupert of the Rhine. Since Bulstrode Whitelocke was a Parliament supporter, the Royalist soldiers ransacked Fawley Court.
The main house was rebuilt by Sir
Christopher Wren, and is regarded by architecture historians as one of his most successful designs for a formal residence.
During the
Glorious Revolution of 1688,
William III of Orange stayed in the house during his march from
Torbay to London.
In the
1770s, the grounds were dramatically landscaped by
Capability Brown, and the architect
James Wyatt worked on new rooms in the house. He also designed the nearby
Temple Island. Both
George III and
George IV visited the house.
Fawley Court was sold to the
Scottish banker
Edward Mackenzie in
1853. He enlarged the house, adding the east wing.
The house was requisitioned by the
Army in
World War II, and was used as a training camp, leaving it in a poor state after the war.
In
1953 the house and surrounding park were purchased by the
Congregation of Marian Fathers, to be used as a school,
Divine Mercy College, for
Polish boys. At its peak the school catered for 150 boys, aged 9 to 19, mostly the children of Poles displaced during the Second World War who had found refuge in Britain.
The house was severely damaged by fire in the early 1970s, but was rebuilt with the help of donations from the Polish community overseas. A modern church was also bulit on the grounds, funded by Prince
Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł (best known as husband of
Lee Bouvier-Radziwill, the younger sister of
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis); he died in 1976 and was interred in the church's crypt.
The school closed down in
1986 due to a lack of students of Polish origin, and the Marian Fathers converted Fawley Court into a 'Retreat and Conference Centre'.
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