A ‘Home Tour’ of Poundon House, Oxfordshire

This charming Edwardian-era country house, set within beautifully landscaped grounds, has been lovingly restored to its original splendour. This Oxfordshire gem features nine bedrooms, three large reception rooms, a handsome library and an intimate wood-paneled study.

Poundon House is privately owned and the family have held three weddings of their own at the house, so they really know what’s involved in planning your wedding and offer such flexibility, always trying to accommodate all your wishes, making each wedding very different.

The venue is holding a Wedding Open Day tomorrow – Saturday 11th June – and you can find full details in our Event Diary. But before you hop in the car, take a little peek inside and learn a bit more about this house.

Let’s begin the tour with a little history lesson shall we…?

Poundon House was built in 1908 by Col. John Heyward Lonsdale when he married a Miss Parker Bowles who lived locally. The house is built of sandstone from the quarry at Eydon near Banbury and the stone was hauled up from the Marsh Gibbon station by teams of horses.

In 1939 the house was requisitioned for the war by the Foreign and Colonial Office.

During the war the house was used by the Post Office and formed a part of the huge effort to break the Engima Code. This code had to be broken anew each day and the number of people working on the project nationwide was over 10,000. Although the Germans considered the code unbreakable they had not taken into account what the inventive English could achieve with intelligence and tremendous hard work. Co-incidentally our great aunt worked on the project at Bletchley House!

During the war a bomb was dropped at the end of the drive.

After the war the house continued to be used for the gathering of intelligence in the cold war. Poundon Hill radio station has direct line of sight to the Ukraine and was used by the GCHQ until 10 years ago.

Our father bought the house in 1979 when the Foreign and Colonial Office relinquished their lease, and it has been a private family home ever since.

As a wedding venue, we can cater for small, intimate celebrations right through to grand festivities for up to 300 guests! This family run house makes the ideal Country House party, exactly as the intention was when it was built. The house comes alive with people, and as it was built to entertain, it couldn’t be better designed to do this.

The house still retains much of its Edwardian character, with the reception rooms and bedrooms restored to their Edwardian style. The nine bedrooms are spacious, ideal for preceding preparations, and there are shared bathrooms. Decorated with a classic style, the reception rooms are grand but not at all intimidating, all interlinked and south facing. 

With its south facing lawns and extensive grounds, there are many photo opportunities in the gardens – from the lavender paths to the orchards, to the fields for the more rustic look, to the formal reception rooms and the lime tree avenue; there are many places to which you can escape to for that precious time together on your wedding day.

Staying over at Poundon House, enjoying the precious time with your close friends and family, in a stunning but intimate setting, really makes the most memorable wedding for you and your guests.

Such a homely feel right…? I could squish up on those sofas, read a book in that bedroom alcove and luxuriate in those incredibly ornate bathrooms! I love how this venue feels like another time, another world.

If you want to discover more then hop across to see Poundon House in it’s full glory on the directory. Their Wedding Open Day details can be viewed in our Event Diary, along with timings and location.

If you want to contact the team directly you can reach them on 01869 713 412 or email enquiries@poundonhouse.com.

Lots of love…