Ardington House

Located in the market town of Witney, Cogges Manor Farm is a unique historic site with a rich story spanning over a thousand years. Mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, the estate has evolved from a Anglo-Saxon settlement into a medieval priory, a Tudor manor, and a working Victorian farmstead, offering an authentic look into centuries of Oxfordshire rural life. The farm holds several fascinating historical and media claims to fame. Its stone manor house incorporates the rare surviving walls of a 13th-century hall house, making it one of the oldest inhabited structures in the region. In recent years, Cogges gained international fame as the primary filming location for Yew Tree Farm in the acclaimed television drama Downton Abbey, serving as the home for characters Mr. Drewe and later Daisy and Andy. Inside the manor house and surrounding farmstead, visitors step directly into the past. The historic house features a fully restored Victorian kitchen where costumed volunteers demonstrate traditional cooking methods over an open range on select days. Visitors can explore period-furnished sitting rooms, bedrooms, and a dairy that evoke 19th-century domestic life. Outside, the site encompasses two grand 17th-century timber-framed barns, a walled kitchen garden, and traditional farmyards housing friendly heritage breed animals, including rare goats, sheep, pigs, and chickens.