Interviews for a new England football manager have been staged at a 16th century Oxfordshire manor house.

Privately-owned Chippinghurst Manor, near Cuddesdon, south of Oxford, has been named as the location for the Football Association's bid to find a successor for Sven Goran Eriksson.

The Swede is to leave following England's World Cup campaign in Germany, and this week the FA has been staging a series of interviews with candidates for the job.

It is understood that interviews have been held at Chippinghurst Manor, with a panel of interviewers headed by the FA's chief executive Brian Barwick.

Talks have been held with Bolton manager Sam Allardyce, former Celtic manager Martin O'Neill, Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren, and Luis Felipe Scolari, who led Brazil to World Cup glory.

Charlton manager Alan Curbishley is also expected to be interviewed.

Mark Hooper, a spokesman for the Football Association, refused to confirm or deny that talks were being held at Chippinghurst Manor, "out of respect for all persons involved".

Chippinghurst Manor hosts a charity celebrity cricket match each year, and has a history which can be traced back to a 10th century Saxon settlement.

It became one of five Royal hunting lodges and was often visited by Henry II. The present manor house was probably built around 1580.

The manor house includes a 45ft drawing room, seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, and 102 acres of grounds.

Early last century, the manor was owned by flour magnate Robert MacDougall. Then in 1964, businessman John Ambler and his wife Princess Margaretha of Sweden bought the house. They sold it in 1985 to a London businessman for an estimated £1.3m.

Lynsey Goodmaker, a spokesman for Wellbeing of Women, said the cricket match had been held in aid of the charity for several years and was hosted by businessman Sir Victor Blank, who is chairman of the charity.

She said: "Sir Victor Blank and his wife Sylvia generously host the cricket match every July, as Chippinghurst Manor is their home. I understand it's a lovely location and I am looking forward to going there this summer."

Sir Victor, a former chairman of Trinity Mirror, was appointed chairman of Lloyds TSB earlier this year.