Audley End House

Audley End House is a manor house near Saffron Walden, Essex, 25 kilometers south of Cambridge.

History

Audley End was founded in the 12th century as a Benedictine abbey. In 1538, the estate was given to the Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden by Henry VIII for his services to the crown. The monastery was converted into a mansion and was known at that time under the name Audley Inn. Thomas Howard, the grandson of Sir Thomas Audley had the house torn down and built in the years 1603 to 1616 the property the largest private house in England from, especially around here James I. to entertain. During the construction of the house, Thomas Howard took over and probably also served from the public treasury, so that he was placed in 1619 in the Tower of London, and after ten days was released after paying a fine. In 1668 the house was bought by Charles II as a country seat, where he could reside while he attended the races at Newmarket. 1701 the house to Thomas Howard's descendants Henry Howard, 5th Earl of Suffolk, was returned. In the course of the next century, the house was gradually demolished until the present size remained. Despite this work on buildings, the main house remains almost intact in its former state. Over the years, some rooms have been completely remodeled, this is mainly the large entrance hall call. In 1948 the house was sold by the 9th Lord Braybook to the Ministry of Works, and was thus later in the possession of the successor organization English Heritage.

Interior decoration

In the manor house are open to visitors today 32 rooms. In particular, the large hall, the Jacobean ceiling and the library should be emphasized. One of the most interesting exhibits is, according to English Heritage, the State Cond This special bed was made in 1786, in the hope that George III. would pay a visit to the house. The bed has has a size of 2.40 m to 2.40 m and then cost 400 pounds. This corresponded to approximately the salary could earn a maid in 50 years.

Garden

Today's garden was laid out by Capability Brown. In 1762 he was commissioned by Sir John Griffin Griffin re-create the garden of the house. The original garden was from the 17th century and consisted of a strictly formalist system with dead-straight roads, rectangular ponds and long avenues. Brown broke on this formalistic order and created a garden which merges seamlessly into the surrounding landscape. For this purpose, on the one hand all fences and barriers demolished to ensure an unobstructed view, and on the other hand planted on the horizon a green belt in order to enhance the embedding into the environment.