Home Destinations Europe England Thames Valley with Oxford Sights Mapledurham House

Mapledurham House Review

Read our Thames Valley with Oxford sights reviews. Or post your own.

Mapledurham House

Address: Mapledurham
Directions: near Reading
Phone: 0118/972-3350
www.mapledurham.co.uk

Category: Houses/Mansions
Location: Mapledurham

Write a review

Fodor's Review:

The section of the Thames from Caversham to Mapledurham inspired Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows, which began as a bedtime story for Grahame's son Alastair while the family lived at Pangbourne. Some of E. F. Shepard's illustrations are of specific sites along the river—none more fabled than this redbrick Elizabethan mansion, bristling with tall chimneys, mullioned windows, and battlements, which became the inspiration for Shepard's vision of Toad Hall. The Eyston family, descendants of longtime owners of the estate, still lives at Mapledurham, and the house seems warm and friendly even with all the family portraits, magnificent oak staircases, and Tudor plasterwork ceilings. There's also a 15th-century water mill—the last working grain mill on the river. On summer weekends you can reach the house by a Thames River Cruises (0118/948-1088) boat from Caversham Promenade in Reading. The boat leaves at 2 PM, and travel time is about 45 minutes. You can linger at one of the 11 rental cottages around the estate (£265-£620 a week).

Cost: House and mill £7, house only £4.50, grounds and mill £3.50
Open: Easter-Sept., weekends 2-5:30

Find more sights in Thames Valley with Oxford »