 Lacock Abbey
The converted country house, screened by its walled grounds, is situated beside
the River Avon and standing on the edge of a charming 13th century
village featuring many beautiful limewashed half-timbered and stone houses.
From first appearances a relatively peaceful setting, but throughout the year crowds of inquisitive visitors
descend upon the village to explore this quaint and quirky
'chocolate box' scene. Since 1944 the whole village has
been in the care of the National Trust who endeavour to retain its 'time
stood still' appeal, and set within this environment of deep historical
interest, Lacock Abbey holds an equally intriguing past.
An element of faith and romance
begin the story when Ela, Countess of Salisbury, founded a convent on
the site in 1232. Her husband, William Longespee, the illegitimate son
of Henry II, had been missing abroad for a long time but she never gave
up hope of his return, and eventually she was rewarded. After his death,
she founded two religious houses in his memory. Ela was the first abbess
of Lacock Abbey, two of her granddaughters served as nuns here, and her youngest
son's heart is buried on the site, denoted by a heartstone which can still
be seen. For the next 300 years the abbey flourished but, with the Dissolution,
its inevitable demise came about in 1539, and the estate was granted to
William Sharington.
Involved in a money-lending
scandal through his position as Vice Treasurer of the Bristol Mint,
Sharington almost lost Lacock Abbey, and his life, which would have been a
great loss in heritage terms as it is largely through his sympathetic
building work that the abbey has remained so complete. Although the
church was virtually destroyed, many of the monastic buildings were
incorporated into the new private house modelled by Sharington, and
the overall layout resembled that of the original range around the cloisters.
He also built Stable Court,
containing stables, a bakehouse, a dairy and a brewery, the latter being
used for some 200 years. As the house passed through the generations,
no major alterations were carried out until the 18th century
when John Ivory Talbot completely changed the appearance of Lacock Abbey and
had a new Gothic entrance hall built. Less than 100 years later his
great grandson, William Henry Fox Talbot, altered the south façade by the addition
of a bay, and replaced the existing windows with three, small oriel windows.
Fox Talbot was a pioneer in the photography world, developing the process for producing negatives,
and a permanent exhibition about his life and achievements is housed in
a converted barn near the entrance gates.
An elegant interior, tastefully
furnished, emphasises the status of Lacock Abbey as a country house built for
pleasure and entertaining, but the presence of the original vaulted cloisters,
chapter house and sacristy, give the house a surreal and hallowed atmosphere.
The visible combination of architectural styles gives an interestingly
disjointed external appearance, a bit like a jigsaw puzzle with badly
interlocking pieces. But each piece is relevant to the history and preservation
of this delightful building, and there is no better way of understanding
its past than to sit in the lovely grounds at Lacock Abbey and contemplate the various
aspects of its complex construction. |
