Nether Winchendon House

About the venue

Grade I listed Medieval and Tudor manor near Thame, in the same family since 1559 and remodelled in the Strawberry Hill Gothick style in the late 18th century. Exclusive-use weddings in the 18th-century Carriage Barn (85 dining, 120 evening) or marquees for up to 250 on three lawns, with church or garden ceremonies.

Before adding battlements to Nether Winchendon House, Sir Scrope Bernard obtained a Parliamentary licence to 'fortify' it. With his wife's fortune, he turned the timber-framed manor into a Strawberry Hill Gothick house in the late 18th century. He also diverted the River Thame and built a stone bridge over it around 1793. The house is listed Grade I and is in Simon Jenkins's England's Thousand Best Houses.

The manor appears in Domesday Book, and the Great Hall is thought to date from the reign of King John. Sir John Daunce added the panelled Dining Room around 1530. In 1559 the estate was bought as a marriage settlement for the Tyringham family, and it has passed by inheritance ever since. One owner, Sir Francis Bernard, was the last Royal Governor of Massachusetts Bay, where a town called Winchendon is named after him.

The family have run exclusive-use weddings here for over 30 years. Receptions are held in the 18th-century Carriage Barn, built for the family's carriages, which seats 85 and holds 120 in the evening. Its doors open onto the Bridal Garden and orchard. Bigger weddings take a marquee for up to 250 on the East Lawn, in the Walled Garden or on the South Lawn above the river.

Couples can marry at the Church of St Nicholas, two minutes' walk away. Others do the legal part at a register office and hold a vows or blessing ceremony in the grounds, even on the restored bridge. There is no corkage and no other function on the date. The Bridal Cottage is let only to wedding couples, and the West House, the medieval wing, has five double bedrooms.

Grade I listed Medieval and Tudor manor

Owned by the same family since 1559

Strawberry Hill Gothick remodelling, late 18th century

Seven acres of gardens by the River Thame

Carriage Barn: 85 dining, 120 evening

Marquees for up to 250 on three lawns

Church two minutes' walk, or vows in the grounds

Bridal Cottage and five-bedroom West House