Wytham Woods featured in Spectator Christmas Story

“The Christmas King steps slowly from his house and sniffs the evening’s chill. His tread is dainty, for all his heft, and his handsome head swings proudly as he surveys a kingdom of carrot tops and mud. He smells woodsmoke, the sows’ reek, the night’s damp rising from the river. From the kitchen door he hears the teasing voices of boys, the clatter of scullions’ ewers loaded with his dinner. On the hill, Wytham Wood hisses like the sea.”

In ‘The King of Christmas’ by Owen Matthews, the steward of Wytham Manor has been raising a majestic hog to be eaten by the household on Christmas Day. Not everything goes to plan, however – or does it?

This yuletide tale is an entertaining picture of the past. In 2019 we are some way away from the reign of Henry VIII and our Woods are no longer home to outlaws, or indeed hogs, but we love Wytham’s latest foray into fiction!

Read the full story on the Spectator website.

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