Audley End House, Essex
Audley End House is a largely early 17th century country house just outside the town of Saffron Walden in Essex.
The site was originally Walden Abbey, a Benedictine monastery founded in 1139. In 1538, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII granted the abbey and lands to his Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Audley.
Sir Thomas Audley converted the abbey buildings into a mansion. His great-grandson, Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, demolished most of the earlier house and built the current magnificent mansion between 1605 and 1614. It was intended to be grand enough to host King James I, a feat it achieved, but its immense cost led to the Earl's financial ruin and conviction for embezzlement.
Throughout the 18th century, successive owners, including the Countess of Portsmouth, reduced the house to a more manageable size by demolishing large sections, saving it from total dereliction.
In the 1820s, the 3rd Lord Braybrooke remodelled the house to recover its original Jacobean character, a style that largely prevails in the house's interiors today.
After the second world war, due to heavy death duties, the 9th Lord Braybrooke sold the house to the Ministry of Works (the predecessor of English Heritage) in 1948. The house and gardens are now open to the public, offering a glimpse into centuries of English history.
Audley End House, Essex
Audley End House is a largely early 17th century country house just outside the town of Saffron Walden in Essex.
The site was originally Walden Abbey, a Benedictine monastery founded in 1139. In 1538, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII granted the abbey and lands to his Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Audley.
Sir Thomas Audley converted the abbey buildings into a mansion. His great-grandson, Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, demolished most of the earlier house and built the current magnificent mansion between 1605 and 1614. It was intended to be grand enough to host King James I, a feat it achieved, but its immense cost led to the Earl's financial ruin and conviction for embezzlement.
Throughout the 18th century, successive owners, including the Countess of Portsmouth, reduced the house to a more manageable size by demolishing large sections, saving it from total dereliction.
In the 1820s, the 3rd Lord Braybrooke remodelled the house to recover its original Jacobean character, a style that largely prevails in the house's interiors today.
After the second world war, due to heavy death duties, the 9th Lord Braybrooke sold the house to the Ministry of Works (the predecessor of English Heritage) in 1948. The house and gardens are now open to the public, offering a glimpse into centuries of English history.