Greys Court facts for kids

Greys Court, Oxfordshire (2018).

Greys Court is a Tudor country house and gardens in the southern Chiltern Hills at Rotherfield Greys, near Henley-on-Thames in the county of Oxfordshire, England. Now owned by the National Trust, it is located at , and is open to the public.

William Paul, Esq. of Bray (1673-1711), by John Closterman; his father James Paul bought Greys in 1688.

Overview

The Dower House at Greys Court

As Redrefield it was the principal manor of the six manors held in 1086 (as listed in the Domesday Book) by the Norman knight Anchetil de Greye (c.1052- post-1086), ancestor of the prominent Grey family.

The mainly Tudor-style house has a courtyard and gardens. The walled gardens contain old-fashioned roses and wisteria, an ornamental vegetable garden, maze (laid to grass with brick paths, dedicated by Archbishop Robert Runcie on 12 October 1981) and ice house. Within its grounds are the fortified tower built circa 1347, the only remains of the medieval castle, overlooking the gardens and surrounding countryside, as well as a Tudor wheelhouse.

The house remains furnished as a family home, with some outstanding 18th-century plasterwork interiors. It is a Grade I listed building.

Use as a filming location

The house appeared in a series 3 (2012) episode of Downton Abbey when Crawley family visit the property, known to them as Eryholme. The house was used by the Dowager Countess' late husband as a hunting lodge. Robert, the Earl of Grantham, was considering moving there with his family as he was about to lose Downton to debt and taxes.

It also appeared in the ITV series Agatha Christie's Poirot in 2013. In the adaptation of Elephants Can Remember it is used as the home of one of the people Ariadne Oliver visits while investigating the case. The episode was screened on 9 June 2013.

Greys Court also appeared for external shots as "Midsomer Priory" in the Midsomer Murders Series 14 episode entitled "A Sacred Trust".