# Great Tew Mansion, Oxfordshire | November 2018



## TopAbandoned (Dec 24, 2018)

GREAT TEW MANOR | NOVEMBER 2018

In this explore. We ventured in to Oxfordshire and found this magnificent mansion that was surprisingly easy access, when we finished however this posh woman who didn't have a clue about the law starting spouting out about the fact that she has two big dogs as we were getting in to our car to leave.

A bit of History

Viscount Cary lived in a large manor house that seems to have been built in or before the early part of the 17th century and to have been extended in the latter part of the 17th century. It was demolished in about 1800 (see below), but there are surviving structures from about 1700, including stables, a dovecote and stone gate piers.

In 1780 and 1793 Great Tew estate was bought by George Stratton, who had made a fortune in the East India Company. He died in March 1800 and was succeeded by his son George Frederick Stratton. The manor house had evidently fallen into disrepair, as the Strattons lived in a smaller Georgian dower house slightly to the south of it, and had the manor house demolished in about 1803. In 1808 George Frederick Stratton engaged the Scots botanist and garden designer John Loudon, who laid out north and south drives in Great Tew Park and planted ornamental trees in and around the village, which today enhance its picturesque appearance.

In 1815–1816, Matthew Robinson Boulton, the son of the manufacturer Matthew Boulton of Soho, Birmingham, bought Great Tew Estate. In 1834 Boulton added a Gothic Revival library to the east end of the house, and in 1856 the Boulton family added to the west end a large Tudor style section designed by F.S. Waller. Great Tew remained with the Boulton family until M. E. Boulton died without heirs in 1914.[3] As of 2014, the house was largely unoccupied and clad in scaffolding and plastic sheeting. It is a restoration project for the estate owners, the Johnston family, who reopened the local ironstone quarry in 2000.

In recent years the Great Tew Estate has hosted a series of events through the year, including the Cornbury Music Festival.

Our YouTube Video:


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## mookster (Dec 24, 2018)

Good to see this place again, been there many times over the years although christ alive that first photo makes my eyes hurt.

You probably ran into the estate owners who live in the house behind it.


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## Brewtal (Dec 24, 2018)

Did you scrawl your name on the wall in fucking huge writing like you did at Talgarth!?


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## mookster (Dec 25, 2018)

Brewtal said:


> Did you scrawl your name on the wall in fucking huge writing like you did at Talgarth!?



I bloody hope not, shit like that gives people like us a bad name and this place has remained totally free from anything like that since it first came up in 2010


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## Brewtal (Dec 25, 2018)

mookster said:


> I bloody hope not, shit like that gives people like us a bad name and this place has remained totally free from anything like that since it first came up in 2010



Seems to be the done thing now, scrawl your goontube and instacunt links on the wall. And who hand writes hashtags ffs!? Gone are the days of the good old check in boards...


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## TopAbandoned (Dec 26, 2018)

No and it wasn’t us actually. It was someone from 28dl trying to make us look bad and I’d expect a better attitude on derelictplaces...


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## TopAbandoned (Dec 26, 2018)

We aren’t the sort to do it you get to see 28dayslater scrawled in every place


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## mookster (Dec 26, 2018)

Brewtal said:


> Seems to be the done thing now, scrawl your goontube and instacunt links on the wall. And who hand writes hashtags ffs!? Gone are the days of the good old check in boards...



It's sadly a very common practice amongst a lot of the kids in America which I have to deal with too, scrawling your IG name everywhere seems to be the done thing now. 

Give me chalk and a board any day.


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## Brewtal (Dec 27, 2018)

TopAbandoned said:


> No and it wasn’t us actually. It was someone from 28dl trying to make us look bad and I’d expect a better attitude on derelictplaces...



Why specifically target you? Have you upset someone? And nobody in their right mind on 28DL would advertise it in derps. Most likely non members doing it to be dicks. This whole cross forum hating thing is a load of bullshit anyway.

And better attitude? Being opposed to self advertising graffiti is not bad attitude. I would call anyone out for doing it. I am sure you can see my point, whether it was you or not.


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## Brewtal (Dec 27, 2018)

mookster said:


> Give me chalk and a board any day.



I'm all about the whiteboards myself...!


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## krela (Dec 28, 2018)

There's a lot of kids around that do silly things to try and impress or get in with the in crowd, or to discredit people they're jealous of, you don't have to *do* anything to attract their attention. Forum (and website) hate has been a thing forever and it's nowhere near as bad now as it used to be. It's all a bit tedious really, especially after 15 odd years of it. 

Shit happens, let's move on.


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## Tammie (Jun 10, 2021)

Has anyone been to this more recently. Tried checking it out last night but couldn’t find it


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## BikinGlynn (Jun 10, 2021)

Tammie said:


> Has anyone been to this more recently. Tried checking it out last night but couldn’t find it


Couldnt actually find the hall?? thats not a good start.
Did it in late 19 or 20 dont think its changed at all but not an easy one to do.
Just been bough by Rupert Murdock or someone aint it?


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## Tammie (Jun 10, 2021)

No the spot where we thought it was on the maps, doesn’t seem to be it.
I read it had been bought and it would take 5/6 years of reconstruction to make it liveable.
So it should be under construction, or in for planning permission but couldn’t find it in great tew. If you could message me a location it would be fantastic as I would love to see if the building is still there for pictures. 


BikinGlynn said:


> Couldnt actually find the hall?? thats not a good start.
> Did it in late 19 or 20 dont think its changed at all but not an easy one to do.
> Just been bough by Rupert Murdock or someone aint it?


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## urban-dorset (Jun 11, 2021)

Tammie said:


> No the spot where we thought it was on the maps, doesn’t seem to be it.
> I read it had been bought and it would take 5/6 years of reconstruction to make it liveable.
> So it should be under construction, or in for planning permission but couldn’t find it in great tew. If you could message me a location it would be fantastic as I would love to see if the building is still there for pictures.


Tammie, Google is your friend here. It doesn't go down well if you join forums for the sole purpose of asking for locations! 

If you have some explores to share with us first, that makes people think you are more trustworthy, and thus they are more willing to help.


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## Tammie (Jun 11, 2021)

urban-dorset said:


> Tammie, Google is your friend here. It doesn't go down well if you join forums for the sole purpose of asking for locations!
> 
> If you have some explores to share with us first, that makes people think you are more trustworthy, and thus they are more willing to help


I appreciate your concern. I have done many explores and I have recently joined. I have commented on a couple of places on here with a new update. Some posts in Oxfordshire hardly has anything past 2018 on.
I’m grateful that the person who commented did message me and I am extremely grateful. In the message I did say I would try and contact the owner of the place. Which I do with most places I go out of respect. So please if you see a new member asking for help, instead of being rude and negative. Offer support and tips. It’s people who are negative and rude that put new people off or worse.
I only joined yesterday so please be patient with uploads.


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## urban-dorset (Jun 11, 2021)

Tammie said:


> I appreciate your concern. I have done many explores and I have recently joined. I have commented on a couple of places on here with a new update. Some posts in Oxfordshire hardly has anything past 2018 on.
> I’m grateful that the person who commented did message me and I am extremely grateful. In the message I did say I would try and contact the owner of the place. Which I do with most places I go out of respect. So please if you see a new member asking for help, instead of being rude and negative. Offer support and tips. It’s people who are negative and rude that put new people off or worse.
> I only joined yesterday so please be patient with uploads.


Tammie, if you re-read what I said, you'll see that I was neither rude nor negative. And I did offer a tip: "Google is your friend" (it took me about 5 mins to find the location of the place you're looking for). 

The fact is, you joined yesterday and immediately asked for a location, but we don't know who you are, or whether you have done any explores.

You will find on most urbex forums that regular members want to see some 'credentials' before handing over locations to new members. The exception to this is 'Faceache', which is full of people with all sorts of reasons for asking, many of which are not good.


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## Sam Haltin (Jun 12, 2021)

To add on the previous post, I've seen plenty of newbies asking for locations and all I do is Google that location and post the address on here and it only takes five minutes. What urban explorers are wary of is in the past as they have given out locations only to find that the location ends up being subjected to an arson attack or theft of property and vandalism.


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## zeroUE (Jun 12, 2021)

People put a lot of time and effort into researching locations and then how to get in especially if there's security only for many places to get absolutely ruined because it becomes just a pin on a map widely shared on Facebook and YouTube. 

There was no rudeness by the reply at all. In this case GT Manor its been around for years and it's fully named. There's many external photos floating around and the village isn't exactly a big place, it's not difficult to find if you Google.


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## zeroUE (Jun 12, 2021)

Also regarding contacting the owner... why? That's only raising their awareness that it's still on the radar. Urban exploring by its very nature is trespass. It's a very different thing to what is essentially an arranged photo shoot and guided tour, assuming you find a land/property owner willing to take the risk of allowing you on/in a derelict and potentially dangerous location


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## night crawler (Jun 12, 2021)

Tammie said:


> I appreciate your concern. I have done many explores and I have recently joined. I have commented on a couple of places on here with a new update. Some posts in Oxfordshire hardly has anything past 2018 on.
> I’m grateful that the person who commented did message me and I am extremely grateful. In the message I did say I would try and contact the owner of the place. Which I do with most places I go out of respect. So please if you see a new member asking for help, instead of being rude and negative. Offer support and tips. It’s people who are negative and rude that put new people off or worse.
> I only joined yesterday so please be patient with uploads.


Not really the done thing, you could end up in trouble by contacting the owner and as zeroUE explained people do put a lot of work into finding places so they are not likely to go giving the location away just like that, you might be willing but most people on here will just blank them. People should try looking themselves first checking maps is the easy part and with a little research you soon find the place. You can always ask someone who has been there if you got it right and are more likely to get a positive answer


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## Fluffy (Jun 14, 2021)

If you can't find this, lets be honest, HUGE estate, then maybe UE isn't for you 

The house is being worked on, daily, to bring it up to a level where it can be lived in once more. Very much taken care of, and very much not abandoned anymore.


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## Tammie (Jun 14, 2021)

Thanks for the lovely updates guys.
I went to visit the house yesterday with team.
I spoke to the estate manager and we are arranging a time where my team and I can go in and have a look.
Thank you for you help.


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