Broughton Castle
A moated house down a quiet lane outside Banbury, held by the same family since 1377.
A moated house down a quiet lane outside Banbury, held by the same family since 1377.
Broughton is not a castle in the turrets-and-drawbridge sense. It is a fortified manor house, begun in the 1300s and much enlarged in the Elizabethan period, and the result is something far more interesting than a keep: a place where medieval stonework meets Tudor plasterwork, where Civil War history sits alongside a family's portraits spanning six hundred years. We tend to save it for an afternoon when we want somewhere unhurried, and it never disappoints. You arrive down a lane a couple of miles outside Banbury, cross a moat that still holds water, and step into rooms that feel lived in rather than roped off.
The Fiennes family have been here since 1377, and they still are: the present custodian is Martin Fiennes, 22nd Lord Saye and Sele, and yes, the actor Ralph and the explorer Ranulph are both cousins of the line. That continuity is what gives the house its slightly rumpled warmth. There is no gift-shop gloss, just a genuinely inhabited home that happens to be seven hundred years old, and gardens to match: walled borders, old roses, and a circuit of the moat that catches the light beautifully on a clear day. The house also earned a footnote in history as a meeting place for opponents of Charles I in the run-up to the Civil War, and you can still feel that seriousness in the older rooms, cool and thick-walled even in high summer.
From Well Cottage the drive is about twenty-five to thirty minutes, north through rolling countryside towards Banbury. It is an easy run, mostly on quiet roads, and the castle pairs naturally with other things nearby, so we rarely treat it as the whole day. Allow an hour or so inside the house and gardens, longer if the sun is out and you fancy sitting by the moat, and you still have most of the afternoon to spare.
This is the one thing to get right. Broughton keeps limited seasonal hours, and it is not open every day. In the 2026 season it opens roughly April to September, on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons plus Bank Holiday Mondays, typically from early afternoon until around five. Those days can change year to year, and the house is sometimes closed for private events or filming, so always confirm the current times on the official castle website before you set off. It is ticketed, with prices listed on their visiting and prices page. A wasted drive to a locked gate is the only way this place lets you down.
You will very likely recognise Broughton, because it photographs extraordinarily well and film crews know it. It stood in for Viola's home in Shakespeare in Love, for Queen Charlotte's apartments in The Madness of King George, and for Lowood School in the 2011 Jane Eyre, among many others. Standing in the courtyard, it is easy to see why: the honey-coloured stone, the moat, and the sheer quiet all photograph like a set. The real pleasure, though, is simply being there at your own pace, which no film quite captures.
“The moat alone is worth the trip. You cross it and suddenly everything feels about four centuries quieter.”
All of this on the doorstep, and your own thatched cottage to come home to. Sleeps seven, less than a mile from Soho Farmhouse.