Rycote Chapel, nr Thame, Oxfordshire
Rycote is a 15th century private chapel featuring superbly carved and painted original woodwork. The chapel was built in 1449 by Richard Quatremayne, close aide to Richard, Duke of York, and later, to Edward IV. It was to serve as a private chapel for Ryecote Palace, now sadly destroyed. The chapel features a musician's gallery and a beautifully carved rood screen. The font is 12th century, salvaged from an earlier church on this site.
This beautiful building is one of the finest medieval chapels in England, built not just for the use of the nearby manor house; it also served the local village and travellers on the route between London and Oxford. In the early Tudor period the manor house was destroyed to make way for a new royal palace, Rycote Palace, which became an important royal residence, used by a succession of Tudor monarchs including Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Henry even spent part of his 5th honeymoon at Rycote.
During the reign of Mary Tudor her sister Elizabeth was held at Rycote as a virtual prisoner under the care of Sir John Williams of Thame. Elizabeth became great friends with Sir John's daughter Marjorie, who married Sir John Norreys (Norris) in 1560. When Sir John died the estate passed to the Norris couple, and it was they who built the ornately carved pew that is one of the historic highlights of Rycote. As Queen, Elizabeth visited Rycote on at least 4 occasions, and considered the palace something of a favourite country retreat.
The palace is long gone, but the manor house we see today incorporates many of its outbuildings. The Bertie family, later Earls of Abingdon, acquired Rycote in the 1740s, but in 1745 the building was severely damaged by fire. It was rebuilt, but the family fortunes suffered when the 4th Earl spent the family fortune. The Tudor mansion was finally pulled down in 1807, and the chapel was allowed to decay; the roof leaked, the fittings were rotting, and the cushions were moth-eaten. Yet the chapel vault was still used for family burials by the Earls of Abingdon throughout the 19th century. The chapel's fortunes changed in 1911 when Rycote was purchased by Alfred St. George Hamersley.
On the north side of the chancel is the Norris Pew, dated to 1610 and surmounted by a musician's gallery. Opposite, on the south side of the chancel is a quite astonishing enclosed, domed pew, reputedly built for a visit of Charles I in 1625, when the king and his court sought refuge in Oxford after plague broke out in London. Charles came again to Rycote in 1643 and 1645 on his way to his Civil War base in Oxford. The exquisite reredos behind the high altar dates to 1682, and may have been carved by Grinling Gibbons. Among the memorials is an ornate monument to James Bertie, Earl of Abingdon, dated to 1767.
The chapel is small, just a chancel and short nave leading to a west tower. But maybe because it is so compact, the effect of the woodwork is amplified; the impact is simply stunning. The Norreys roofed pew is an astonishing piece of craftsmanship, and it is unlikely that another family pew with a musicians gallery on top of it could be found elsewhere!! If anything, the royal pew opposite is even more stunning. The underside of the dome that tops the pew is ribbed like cathedral vaulting, with the spaces between the ribs painted with stars. The same motif of a starry sky is repeated throughout the chapel, notably under the large west gallery that stands over the tower entry.
The Oxfordshire Way Public Footpath passes right alongside Rycote Chapel, but parking at either point where the footpath crosses either the A 418, or the A329, is virtually impossible, hence a Terrain Rating of 2, but it is well worth the walk. However, from April to September, on Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays from 14.00 to 18.00, the Chapel is open to the public, and it is allowed to approach by car through the private entrance to Rycote Park with free parking a hundred or so metres from the Chapel. If time allows, the very modest entry fee is more than justified by the truly amazing guided tour of this incredible chapel, in which, still being consecrated, just a handful of services are still maintained. You are looking for a small camouflaged container placed alongside the Public Footpath, there is no need to leave the path.
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Congratulations to Heather :o) for an excellent FTF, in well less than two and a half hours of the Cache being published! And I was wondering how long it might take for the FTF to arrive, without readily available parking nearby, so well done again Heather.