In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Nuneham Courtenay like this:
NUNEHAM-COURTNEY, a village, a parish, and a sub-district, in the district of Abingdon and county of Oxford. The village stands near the river Thames at the boundary with Berks, 2¼ miles E N E of Culham r.station, and 5¼ S S E of Oxford; was transferred to itspresent site, from the neighbourhood of Nuneham House, by the first Lord Harcourt; consists mostly of neatly-arranged and pretty thatched cottages; and has a post-office under Oxford, and an inn. ...
The parish comprises 2,079 acres. Real property, £2, 731. Pop., 314. Houses, 65. The manor, with Nuneham Park and most of the property, belonged to successively the De Courcis, the Courtenays, the Pollards, and others; passed to the Harcourt family; was bequeathed by the last Lord Harcourt to his kinsman the Archbishop of York; and belongs now to the Rev. W. Harcourt. The mansionstands on a wooded height, above the Thames; contains a rich collection of paintings; and has a pane of glass, brought from Pope's study at Stanton-Harcourt, and bearing an inscription written by himself with a diamond, and recording that he there completed the fifth book ofhis " Homer." The grounds comprise about 1, 200 acres; were laid out by Brown; include an eminence commanding a good view of the winding Thames up to Oxford; contain beautiful gardens, partly planned by the poet Mason; contain also the beautiful conduit of Otho Nicholson, long a chief ornament of Oxford, and removed hither by reconstruction in 1787; and are afavourite resort of picnic parties. Walpole says, " Nuneham is not superb, but so calm, riant, and comfortable, so live-at-able, one wakes in a morning on sucha whole picture of beauty." The parish is a meet for the old Berkshire hounds. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford. Value, £456.* Patron, the Rev. W. Harcourt. The church was rebuilt in 1764, by Earl Harcourt; is a small structure, in the Grecian style, with a dome; and contains an altar-piece by the poet Mason. There are a parochial school, and charities £30.—The sub-district contains also seven other parishes, and parts of two others. Acres, 12,009. Pop., 3, 500. Houses, 628.
Nuneham Courtenay through time
Nuneham Courtenay is now part of South Oxfordshire district. Click here for graphs and data of how South Oxfordshire has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Nuneham Courtenay itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Nuneham Courtenay in South Oxfordshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/10021
Date accessed: 19th April 2024
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