061016 Nympsfield, Woodchester Mansion First Floor view of Chapel

Construction stopped on Woodstock in the 1870s due to a variety of reasons. The original occupant for whom the house was constructed was getting old and was warned against living in Woodstock's damp and cold valley would for health concerns.

Anther reason is that construction began following English Catholic Emancipation. Woodstock was first designed by the country's leading Catholic architect (A. W. N. Pugin) and then by the second-best, and so on. The house's purpose was to anchor a new and isolated Catholic community. A convent had already been built and established at the edge of the valled on the same property. Rumor has it that the house was designed as a papal residence for a second Babylonian Captivity, which would have been caused by the turmoil Italian unification was going through during the mid to late 1800s.

I can't imagine an English papacy so soon after Catholic Emancipation. There was an English pope, Adrian IV, but he just didn't cut it.

The chapel design was heavily infuenced by Violet-le-Duc.
Photo: 061013.186.Glos.Nympsfield.WoodchesterMansion.First Floor Chapel