A Glimpse through the Gatehouse

(Boughton Castle, Oxfordshire, England) 

   Ó Copyright, All Rights Reserved,

Barry W. Hollritt, 2000

In June of 2000, I traveled to England for what felt was like the one millionth time!  However, on this particular voyage, I brought my father back to England for only his second return to the isles in his life.  His first visit was in June of 1944 as a ball turret gunner on a B17 bomber. On this second visit, he returned for a reunion of his military group in Cambridgeshire.  During the reunion visit, I brought my father down to Oxfordshire, to the area where I first visited as a student years ago.  There, among the rolling Oxfordshire  counrtryside, not far from Wroxton Abbey, sits Broughton Castle.  The “Castle” as it is called, has been the home of the Saye and Sele family for six hundred years. Although called a 'castle', it really is a fortified Tudor manor home.   The original house, much of which remains today, was built in about 1300 and was surrounded by a moat.  About 100 years later a battlemented wall was added, giving the house a military look.  Then in about 1554, the house was enlarged and reconstructed in the 'Court' style of Edward VI,  completing its translation into a Tudor manor house.  The home is famous not only for it’s long historic past of which two kings and one queen visited (James I slept in the Kings Chambers in 1604 and King Edward VII more recently in 1901),  but in recent time it has been the setting for numerous TV and Film locations. The Great Hall has been featured in a number of TV and film productions, including the famous dance scene from “Shakespeare in Love”.  Broughton played the part of the Wessex family home, Viola's (Gwyneth Paltrow) parents house. Rooms used included the Great Hall for the dance scene, the Oak Room for Robert de Lessep's study and the South West Balcony of the house for the balcony scene! The Gatehouse became known for Joseph Fienne’s running from the house after the first night together with Gwyneth!  On my previous visit to England  I had attempted to visit Broughton and was told a film was being made… little did I know a year later that the movie would make the home that much more famous.  I photographed the Gatehouse many times in the past and on this very special visit with my father, I preserved a wonderful mood of the entrance to the Gatehouse which had just been anointed with a soft June rain shower upon the entrance way stone.  If you ever get to Broughton, hopefully you will find the swans guarding the moat!