The Manor House
When I read that Cogges Manor Farm in Witney was closing down while it reorganizes as a trust, I decided I better get out there and see it. Since I'd recently time-traveled to Victorian London, I figured it was time to see how the other half lived.
The two halves couldn't be more different. In London, the Sambournes bought their provisions from the many shops on Kensington High Street. In rural Oxfordshire, the family that lived in Cogges Manor were almost self-sufficient.
Cogges Farm is a working museum, a recreation of a late Victorian farm, complete with dairy maids, a hardworking cook and best of all, baby animals.
The Manor House dates back 700 years, though it's furnished today as it would have been during the late Victorian period. In the large kitchen, a roaring fire keeps the oven hot, while an appropriately dressed cook bakes savory treats for visitors.
Inside the kitchen, where the cook entertained visitors while baking Welsh tea cakes.
Behind the Manor House is a walled garden, growing kitchen herbs and plants as well as flowers. In the dairy, I smelled the sour smell of milk and butter. (If you don't eat diary products, you soon come to find they smell slightly rancid.) I got out of there fast, and decided to make friends with the many animal species found at the farm.
Free range chickens wander about the farmyard, giving loud voice to their chicken-ish complaints. Rabbits huddle in hutches (baby bunnies are for sale, but I resisted the urge to bring one home). Pigs root in their stone pens. Two donkeys nibble the grass, though one became fascinated by the dogs at the gate.
I made friends with two lambs, who were in a shed by themselves. Lambs are really camera hogs—the larger one was fascinated with my camera, and willingly posed for photos. In another barn, I found a couple of cows, who placidly munched hay while visitors gazed at their backsides.
Cows wait to be milked in the barn...
Then the fresh, sour-smelling milk goes to the dairy...
Where it is turned into butter.
Victorian-era farm implements are on display throughout the property. For the curious, demonstrations of farm chores are given at different times, though I didn't stick around to see any. In the gift shop, visitors can buy jams and preserves made at the farm.
The River Windrush runs through the property, and in the orchard are picnic tables and a safe place for children and dogs to romp. (Dogs are allowed, though not in the Manor House.)
Cogges Manor Farm closes on August 31, but will reopen in the spring under new management. It's worth a visit, for a glimpse of rural Victorian life as well as a chance to meet some friendly farm animals.
For more photos of the animals at Cogges Farm, you'll have to wait for Friday Cow Blogging.
