Nick Millea, keeper of maps at the Bodleian, gave a talk in February to the Henley Society on the subject of maps, ancient and modern.
To my great delight he also showed us parts of a set of four tapestries which belong to the National Trust and which are being restored at present for an exhibition at the Bodleian in May; NB the large blue patch at the bottom is an area where time and moths have eaten away the original woollen fabric!
This 1590s tapestry of maps of central England was commissioned by Ralph Sheldon of Weston House, Warwickshire. To my great delight one of them also has pictures of Henley and Greys Court, as well as many other close-by great houses and villages. – Although the church towers are shown as very much taller than they probably were in reality and the locations of the towns and villages are somewhat approximate, we can still enjoy these images of Tudor England. Greys Court, at that time owned by the Knollys family, with many of its buildings documented to have been built by Sir Francis in the 1570 – 80s, is particularly interesting. It also still shows many of the medieval towers, of which a few survive, plus a huge entrance gate, of which only a footprint can now been seen as a dry patch in the grass at the southern end of the lawn.