• 1790
  Main Year

Soane rebuilt the office wing on the east side of Woodeaton Manor in 1790. He also constructed an entrance portico of Coade stone, completed in 1791, and carried out various repairs and decorations within the house. Building works on the house and the new office wing amounted to £2,663 9s 7d. Another set of repairs were made to the farm and parsonage. The Soane Museum has drawings for the office wing and a survey of the house that shows the new portico as executed.

Woodeaton was built in 1775 for John Weyland (1744–1825). He probably came to know Soane through his uncle Mark Weyland, who served as Governor to the Bank of England from 1789-91, the year after Soane was appointed architect to the Bank. Soane first visited Woodeaton on 14 March 1790 and from April to June he made designs for the new east office wing (to replace an older wing). He sent working drawings for this building to his clerk of works, Mr Turner, on 28 June 1790 and building works were carried out that summer.

Woodeaton is today a school, located five miles north-east of Oxford. Soane's offices and portico survive, as well as some of his alterations within the house.

Literature: N. Pevsner, Buildings of England: Oxfordshire, 1975, pp. 853-4; P. Dean, Sir John Soane and the country estate, 1999, pp. 181-2.

Madeleine Helmer, 2012

Scheme

Digitisation of the Drawings Collection has been made possible through the generosity of the Leon Levy Foundation

If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk