A Day Out in Cambridgeshire

Anglesey Abbey is a National Trust property and a must for anybody wishing to have an enjoyable day out. It is very easy to find being on the B1102 some six miles out of Cambridge.

It was originally an Augustinian priory built in 1135 with a hospital added some one hundred years later. The ruined remains form the core of the present magnificent house which was constructed early in the 17th Century. It passed through many owners until the first Lord Fairhaven bought it in 1926. He was a wealthy American - his father-in-law was the founder of Standard Oil. It has stayed in the family until the present day and was given to the National Trust in 1966.

Anglesey Abbey is a National Trust property and a must for anybody wishing to have an enjoyable day out. It is very easy to find being on the B1102 some six miles out of Cambridge.

It was originally an Augustinian priory built in 1135 with a hospital added some one hundred years later. The ruined remains form the core of the present magnificent house which was constructed early in the 17th Century. It passed through many owners until the first Lord Fairhaven bought it in 1926. He was a wealthy American - his father-in-law was the founder of Standard Oil. It has stayed in the family until the present day and was given to the National Trust in 1966.

The many rooms in the house are most interesting. There are fine paintings throughout including notable works by Claude Lorraine. There are also over 750 oils, watercolours and prints of Windsor where the first Lord Fairhaven spent a lot of time in his early life. The house is also endowed with many fine tapestries, and excellent examples of furniture and silver. It also houses on of the National Trust's finest collection of clocks. My favourite room is the dining room, the only surviving part of the original priory - it has the most glorious vaulted ceiling.

The house is set in 98 acres of landscaped gardens and arboreta. There are gardens for every season of the year, including the January snowdrop walk, hyacinth displays in the spring, many herbaceous borders and a superb dahlia garden in the summer, and stunning autumn foliage. There is also Lode Mill where there are milling days twice a month and where you can buy bags of the flour ground there.

As befits a National Trust property, there is an excellent refreshment area and the usual shop. Attached to the shop is a small garden centre where you can buy plants that are grown on the estate.

Anglesey Abbey is open from early April until late October. The gardens and tearooms plus the shop are open virtually the whole year round. If you go, leave yourself a full day, and if you are a keen gardener, you will need a pen and paper to take notes. Have a good time - I know you Will!

Graham Forster