Friends excursions: Nether Winchenden, Buckinghamshire
Monday 15 May 2017 10.30am - 7pm
Join the coach on Piccadilly outside the RA. Please note that the coach will leave promptly at 10.30am.
£82. Includes a two-course lunch with a glass of wine, tea, coffee and homemade cake.
Friends of the RA book first
Booking and attending Friends excursions and events
Our tour of this delightful medieval and Tudor manor house will be given by the present owner, Robert Spencer Bernard, whose family has lived here for over 450 years.
The original Nether Winchenden was extended with late 18th-century alterations in the Gothic style that are reminiscent of Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill House. Beyond the Tudor courtyard lies an exquisite interior, including the original great hall with its ribbed ceiling and a dining room with rich carvings and armorial glass. We will also see the family’s collection of fine English furniture, family portraits from the English School and a very rare tapestry portrait of Henry VIII.
On arrival at Nether Winchenden we will be treated to a lunch cooked for us by Robert, the owner of the house. During our visit there will be plenty of time to explore the charming gardens and the early 13th-century church of St Nicholas, which nestles close to the house and is featured in Simon Jenkins' book England's Thousand Best Churches.