Anglesey Abbey is a stately home, 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, although some parts remain the private home of the Fairhaven family.

The 98 acres (400,000 m²) of landscaped grounds are divided into a number of walks and gardens, with classical statuary, topiary and flower beds. The grounds were laid out in an 18th-century style by the estate's last private owner, the 1st Lord 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.

History

A community of Augustinian monks built a priory here some time during the reign of Henry I (i.e. between 1100 and 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. At this time the building's name was changed to 'Anglesey Abbey', which sounded grander than the original 'Anglesey Priory'. 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.

Origin of the Name

The name Anglesey is not a reference to the Welsh island that the English call Anglesey, although the two names have some history in common. Anglesey Priory was built on what was, before improvements in the drainage of the area, an island. In both place names, as in many other place names in Britain, the final -ey is from a Germanic word meaning 'isle'. In the case of the Welsh island, Angle- is from an Old Norse word ongull, which is either a personal name, or a word meaning 'angle' or 'corner'. In the case of the Priory, Angle- is probably a reference to the Angles, a Germanic people who invaded the east of England in the 5th century. The anterior origin of this name is debatable, with some versions linking it to 'angle', a reference to the shape of their homeland, and others claiming a reference to 'angling'.