Anglesey Abbey
 Country house (left) and Lode Mill (right) at Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire. |
Anglesey Abbey is a country house, formerly a priory, in the village of Lode, 5½ miles (8.8 km) northeast of Cambridge, England.
The house and its grounds are owned by the National Trust and are open to the paying public as part of the Anglesey Abbey, Garden & Lode Mill property, although some parts remain the private home of the Fairhaven family.
History
A community of Augustinian monks built a priory here some time during the reign of Henry I (1100-1135), and acquired extra land from the nearby village of Bottisham in 1279. The monks were expelled in 1535 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
The priory was acquired around 1600 by Thomas Hobson, who converted it to a country house for his son-in-law, Thomas Parker, retaining a few arches from the original priory.
At this time the building's name was changed to "Anglesey Abbey," which sounded grander than the original "Anglesey Priory."
In the late 18th century, the house was owned by Sir George Downing, the founder of Downing College, Cambridge. Further alterations were carried out in 1861.
Huttleston (1896–1966) and Henry (1900–1973) Broughton bought the site in 1926 and made improvements to the house. They were the sons of Urban Broughton (1857–1929), who had made a fortune in the mining and railways industries in America. Henry married, leaving the abbey to his brother, then 1st Lord Fairhaven, in 1930. Henry became the 2nd Lord Fairhaven.
Huttleston used his wealth to indulge his interests in history, art, and garden design, and to lead an eighteenth-century lifestyle at the house. On his death, Huttleston left the abbey to the National Trust so that the house and gardens could "represent an age and way of life that was quickly passing".
The 98 acres (400,000 m²) of landscaped grounds are divided into a number of walks and gardens, with classical statuary, topiary and flowerbeds. The grounds were laid out in an 18th-century style by the estate's last private owner, the 1st Baron Fairhaven, in the 1930s.
A large pool, the Quarry Pool, is believed to be the site of a prehistoric coprolite mine.
Lode Water Mill, dating from the 18th century, was restored to working condition in 1982 and now sells flour to visitors.
The 1st Lord Fairhaven also improved the house and decorated its interior with a valuable collection of furniture, pictures and objets d'art.
- Wikipedia. Text licensed under GFDL.
