Stonor Park

Stonor Park is a historic country house and estate located in the Chiltern Hills near Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire, England. The estate has been the home of the Stonor family for more than 850 years, making it one of England’s oldest family homes still occupied by the same family. Although the present red-brick exterior reflects later alterations, parts of the complex date back to the late twelfth century, while the main house developed from a medieval hall and was enlarged over successive centuries. The estate also contains a medieval private chapel, Italianate gardens, extensive parkland and the remains of a prehistoric stone circle. Stonor House is Grade I listed, while the surrounding historic park and gardens are also protected.

Stonor Park has appeared in The Pumaman (1980), The Living Daylights (1987), Danny the Champion of the World (1989), One Foot in the Grave (1990–2000), Possession (2002), The Young Visiters (2003), Endeavour (2012–2023) and A Christmas Carol (2019). The house and surrounding estate have been used as private mansions, country estates, an intelligence safe house and period residences.

In The Pumaman (1980), Stonor Park appears as the country mansion used by the villain Kobras. Tony Farms and Vadinho trace Kobras to the estate after discovering that he is using an ancient Aztec mask to control political leaders from around the world. The mansion becomes the setting for the final confrontation, with Tony attempting to free Jane and the assembled dignitaries from Kobras’ control before the villain escapes by helicopter.

In The Living Daylights (1987), Stonor Park appears as Blayden House, the British intelligence safe house where defecting Soviet general Georgi Koskov is kept after James Bond helps him escape from Bratislava. Bond visits the estate while Koskov tells British intelligence that General Pushkin has revived the Soviet policy of eliminating Western agents. KGB assassin Necros later infiltrates the property disguised as a milkman, fights the staff inside the house and abducts Koskov. The grounds are used when Necros takes Koskov to a waiting medical helicopter, while Stonor House and its entrances establish the secluded intelligence facility. Interior material for the sequence was also filmed at Stonor House, including parts of Necros’ violent fight with the safe-house staff.

In Danny the Champion of the World (1989), Stonor Park appears as the grand country estate of wealthy landowner Victor Hazell. Danny and his father William Smith live nearby and repeatedly poach pheasants from Hazell’s land, partly because of William’s dislike of Hazell and the organised shooting parties held on the estate. The house and grounds provide Hazell’s imposing home and the surrounding landscape where his pheasants are kept. Much of the story builds towards Hazell’s large shooting party, which Danny and William sabotage by feeding sleeping pills to the pheasants and transporting the unconscious birds away from the estate.

In One Foot in the Grave (1990–2000), Stonor Park appears in the final episode, “Things Aren’t Simple Any More”. The episode deals with Margaret Meldrew’s life after Victor is killed by a hit-and-run driver and eventually reveals the identity of the woman responsible. During the closing montage, Victor and Margaret are seen together again in footage of them driving through the countryside around Stonor Park. The peaceful rural images form part of the series’ final farewell to Victor.

In Possession (2002), Stonor Park is used as one of the English country-house locations in the film’s Victorian storyline. The film alternates between modern academics Roland Michell and Maud Bailey investigating a secret relationship between nineteenth-century poets Randolph Henry Ash and Christabel LaMotte, and flashbacks showing the relationship itself. Stonor contributes to the period country-estate settings associated with the Victorian characters, alongside several other historic houses used throughout the production.

In The Young Visiters (2003), Stonor Park is used for the grand country residence of Lord Bernard Clark. Alfred Salteena brings the socially ambitious Ethel Monticue to visit his aristocratic friend Bernard in the hope of impressing her. Instead, Ethel becomes attracted to Bernard while Alfred’s lack of social sophistication becomes increasingly obvious. The house provides the aristocratic setting in which Alfred attempts to navigate upper-class etiquette before leaving to learn how to become a proper gentleman.

In Endeavour (2012–2023), Stonor Park appears in the season 6 episode “Confection” as the country home of the Cresswell family, owners of the Cresswell’s confectionery company. Endeavour Morse and Fred Thursday become involved with the family while investigating the murder of a young woman connected to the fictional Oxfordshire village of Chigton Green. The large manor house is used for scenes involving brothers Murray and Cedric Cresswell and their wealthy family, contrasting their privileged home with the factory and village around which the investigation develops.

In A Christmas Carol (2019), Stonor Park is used during the supernatural journey of Ebenezer Scrooge with the Ghost of Christmas Past. Scenes were filmed both inside Stonor House and directly in front of it, with the lawn and entrance covered in artificial snow to transform the estate into a wintry nineteenth-century setting. Guy Pearce and Andy Serkis filmed at the house as Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Past, with Stonor forming part of the locations through which Scrooge is forced to revisit painful episodes from his earlier life.

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