Minster Lovel

Oxfordshire

There has been a manor house here from the 12th century but the ruins we see today date from the 15th century when the Baron of Lovell and Holand returned a wealthy man from the wars in France. With those proceeds, he built himself a large manor house. Through marriage and his gathered wealth,

he was one of the richest men in England.

William’s son John became master forester of Wychwood. His son Frances was eventually ninth baron of Lovell serving the Yorkist cause. He was created Viscount Lovell by King Richard III. Following the death of Richard, at the Battle of Bosworth, in 1485 the property was taken over by the crown.

In 1602 it was in the possession of Sir Edward Coke, a lawyer. His descendant Thomas Coke, later Earl of Leicester, lived here from 1721 and assumed the title Lord Lovell of Minster Lovell.

By the 1730’s the property was abandoned and soon fell into ruin and was dismantled for building materials.

It is today administered by English Heritage and is open to the public.

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