Alarmed by the tourists it attracted, Mrs Masefield opposed its takeover by an Oxford firm, and the project collapsed after six months, leaving heavy debts settled only with the help of friends and family.

A lifelong feminist, Nancy used to cycle to Oxfordshire villages and set up a stall to explain to women how to use contraception, when it was still illegal.

Her open-mindedness led her to accept a triangular relationship, and from early 1926 Laura Riding lived with her and Graves in London[4] The marriage eventually broke down, as Graves increasingly favoured Riding, leaving Nancy to bring up the four children of the marriage alone,[5] in a succession of locations, including Cumberland and a further spell on Boars Hill.

After a period in the early 1930s living with Geoffrey Taylor[6] on a houseboat moored in Hammersmith, Nancy set up the Poulk Press,[7] in which she collaborated for a time with him.

They lived near Sutton Veny, Wiltshire, in a timber house designed by Nancy and built with family labour.