Woburn Abbey (), occupying the east of the village of
Woburn,
Bedfordshire
Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council wa ...
, England, is a
country house
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
, the
family seat
A family seat or sometimes just called seat is the principal residence of the landed gentry and aristocracy. The residence usually denotes the social, economic, political, or historic connection of the family within a given area. Some families ...
of the
Duke of Bedford
Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV's third so ...
. Although it is still a family home to the current duke, it is open on specified days to visitors, along with the diverse estate surrounding it, including the historic
landscape gardens and
deer park (by
Humphry Repton
Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...
), as well as more recently added attractions including
Woburn Safari Park
Woburn Safari Park is a safari park located in Woburn, Bedfordshire, England. Visitors to the park can drive through exhibits, which contain species such as southern white rhino, elephants, tigers and black bears. It is part of the estates of ...
, a miniature railway and a garden/visitor centre.
Pre-20th century
Woburn Abbey, comprising Woburn Park and its buildings, was set out and founded as a
Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...
abbey
An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.
The conce ...
in 1145. Taken from its monastic residents by
Henry VIII
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
and given to
John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford
John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (c. 1485 – 14 March 1555) was an English royal minister in the Tudor dynasty, Tudor era. He served variously as Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom, Lord High Admiral and Lord Privy Seal. Among the land ...
, in 1547, it became the seat of the Russell family and the
Dukes of Bedford
Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV of England, ...
, who demolished the original abbey building and built their house on the monastic site, although the name ''Abbey'' was retained. The Abbey was largely rebuilt starting in 1744 by the architects
Henry Flitcroft
Henry Flitcroft (30 August 1697 – 25 February 1769) was a major English architect in the second generation of Palladianism. He came from a simple background: his father was a labourer in the gardens at Hampton Court and he began as a joiner by t ...
and
Henry Holland for the
4th Duke.
Anna Russell, Duchess of Bedford
Anna Maria Russell, Duchess of Bedford (3 September 1783 – 3 July 1857) was a lifelong friend of Queen Victoria, whom she served as a Lady of the Bedchamber between 1837 and 1841. , originated the
afternoon tea
Tea (in reference to food, rather than the drink) has long been used as an umbrella term for several different meals. English writer Isabella Beeton, whose books on home economics were widely read in the 19th century, describes meals of va ...
ritual in 19th-century England. Bedford was a keen patron of
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
,
[FS Ashley-Cooper (1900) At the sign of the wicket: Cricket, 1742–1751, ''Cricket'', 26 April 1900, p.83.]
Available online
Retrieved 10 December 2021.) and established a cricket ground in the park in the early 1740s. His own club, Woburn Cricket Club, briefly played against major English sides of the day such as
London Cricket Club
The original London Cricket Club was formed in 1722 and was one of the foremost clubs in English cricket over the next four decades, holding important match status. It is closely associated with the Artillery Ground, where it played most of i ...
.
[Duke of Bedford's Ground, Woburn]
CricketArchive. Retrieved 10 December 2021. [FS Ashley-Cooper (1900) At the sign of the wicket: Cricket, 1742–1751, ''Cricket'', 22 February 1900, p.21.]
Retrieved 10 December 2021.)
In April 1786
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
and
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
, both future Presidents of the United States, visited Woburn Abbey and other notable houses in the area. After visiting them Adams wrote in his diary "
Stowe
Stowe may refer to:
Places United Kingdom
*Stowe, Buckinghamshire, a civil parish and former village
**Stowe House
**Stowe School
* Stowe, Cornwall, in Kilkhampton parish
* Stowe, Herefordshire, in the List of places in Herefordshire
* Stowe, Linc ...
,
Hagley
Hagley is a large village and civil parish in Worcestershire, England. It is on the boundary of the West Midlands and Worcestershire counties between the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley and Kidderminster. Its estimated population was 7,162 in 2 ...
, and
Blenheim, are superb; Woburn,
Caversham, and
the Leasowes
The Leasowes is a 57-hectare (around 141 acre) estate in Halesowen, historically in the county of Shropshire, England, comprising house and gardens. The parkland is now listed Grade I on English Heritage's Register of Parks and Gardens and the ...
are beautiful.
Wotton is both great and elegant, though neglected". However he was also damning about the means used to finance the large estates, and he did not think that the embellishments to the landscape made by the owners of the great country houses would suit the more rugged American countryside.
World War Two
Visiting Woburn Abbey in March 1939, the MP and diarist
Henry Channon
Sir Henry Channon (7 March 1897 – 7 October 1958), often known as Chips Channon, was an American-born British Conservative politician, author and diarist. Channon moved to England in 1920 and became strongly anti-American, feeling that Amer ...
described the well-kept-up "feudal magnificance" of the estate shortly before the outbreak of war. This included more than twenty drawing rooms, thirty cars and whole rooms devoted each to collections of
Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...
,
Canaletto
Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school.
Painter of city views or ...
s and
Van Dyck
Sir Anthony van Dyck (, many variant spellings; 22 March 1599 – 9 December 1641) was a Brabantian Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England after success in the Southern Netherlands and Italy.
The seventh ...
paintings.
From 1941 Woburn Abbey was the headquarters of the secretive
Political Warfare Executive
During World War II, the Political Warfare Executive (PWE) was a British clandestine body created to produce and disseminate both white and black propaganda, with the aim of damaging enemy morale and sustaining the morale of countries occupied ...
(PWE) which had its London offices at the BBC's Bush House.
1945 to 1970s
Following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
,
dry rot
Dry rot is wood decay caused by one of several species of fungi that digest parts of the wood which give the wood strength and stiffness. It was previously used to describe any decay of cured wood in ships and buildings by a fungus which resul ...
was discovered and half the Abbey was subsequently demolished. When the
12th Duke died in 1953, his son the
13th Duke was exposed to death duties of $14 million
and the Abbey was a half-demolished, half-derelict house. Instead of handing the family estates over to the
National Trust
The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
, he kept ownership and opened the Abbey to the public for the first time in 1955. It soon gained in popularity and in its first ten years, it had ticket sales of $11 million, helping to pay off much of the death duties.
[ Other amusements were added, including ]Woburn Safari Park
Woburn Safari Park is a safari park located in Woburn, Bedfordshire, England. Visitors to the park can drive through exhibits, which contain species such as southern white rhino, elephants, tigers and black bears. It is part of the estates of ...
on the grounds of the Abbey in 1970. Asked about the unfavourable comments by other aristocrats when he turned the family home into a safari park, the 13th Duke said, "I do not relish the scorn of the peerage, but it is better to be looked down on than overlooked."
1970s to present
The 13th Duke moved to Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (; ; french: Monte-Carlo , or colloquially ''Monte-Carl'' ; lij, Munte Carlu ; ) is officially an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco, specifically the ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is ...
in 1975. His son Robin, who enjoyed the courtesy title Marquess of Tavistock, ran the Abbey with his wife in his father's absence.
In the early 1990s, the Marquess and The Tussauds Group
The Tussauds Group was an entertainment company which is now a part of Merlin Entertainments. It was based in Poole, Dorset from where it managed a portfolio of brands and over 50 attractions that included the Madame Tussauds waxworks, Legoland T ...
planned to turn the Abbey into a large theme park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
with the help of John Wardley
John Richard Wardley (born 6 June 1950) is a British developer for theme parks in the UK and Europe: an innovator of special effects, dark rides and roller coasters in the themed attraction industry.
Career
Wardley started his career as a st ...
, creator of the roller coaster
A roller coaster, or rollercoaster, is a type of amusement ride that employs a form of elevated railroad track designed with tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions. Passengers ride along the track in open cars, and the rides are o ...
s " Nemesis" and " Oblivion". However, Tussauds bought Alton Towers and built one there instead.
From 1999 to 2002, the Marquess and the Marchioness, the former Henrietta Joan Tiarks, were the subjects of the Tiger Aspect Productions
Tiger Aspect Productions (formerly known as Tiger Television from 1988 until 1993 and also known as Tiger Aspect Films for theatrical films) is a British television and film production company, particularly noted for its situation comedies. Fo ...
reality series
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
''Country House'' in three series, totalling 29 episodes, which aired on BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...
. It detailed the daily life and the business of running the Abbey.
The Marquess of Tavistock became the 14th Duke on the death of his father in November 2002 in Santa Fe, New Mexico
Santa Fe ( ; , Spanish for 'Holy Faith'; tew, Oghá P'o'oge, Tewa for 'white shell water place'; tiw, Hulp'ó'ona, label=Tiwa language, Northern Tiwa; nv, Yootó, Navajo for 'bead + water place') is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. ...
, United States. The 14th Duke was the briefest holder of the Dukedom and died in June 2003.
On the death of the 14th Duke, his son Andrew
Andrew is the English form of a given name common in many countries. In the 1990s, it was among the top ten most popular names given to boys in List of countries where English is an official language, English-speaking countries. "Andrew" is freq ...
became the 15th Duke, and he continues his father's work in running the Woburn Abbey Estate. The building is listed in the highest category of architecture at Grade I.
Collection
The art collection of the Duke of Bedford
Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV's third so ...
is amongst the finest in private hands, and encompasses a wide range of western artwork. The holdings comprise some 250 paintings, including works by Rubens, Van Dyck, Canaletto and Velasquez. Moreover, the collection encompasses examples of the finest manufacturers of furniture, French and English in many periods, and a diverse collection of porcelain and silverware.
Paintings
''Dutch School''
:*Asselyn, Jan – 1 painting
:* Cuyp, Aelbert Jacobsz – 5 paintings
:*Delen, Dirk van – 1 painting
:* Flinck, Govert – 1 painting
:*Goyen, Jan van – 1 painting
:* Potter, Paulus – 2 paintings (''A Hawking Party'', 1653)
:* Rembrandt, Harmenszoon van Rijn – 2 paintings (''Boaz
Boaz (; Hebrew: בֹּעַז ''Bōʿaz''; ) is a biblical figure appearing in the Book of Ruth in the Hebrew Bible and in the genealogies of Jesus in the New Testament and also the name of a pillar in the portico of the historic Temple in Jerusa ...
'', 1643 and ''Self-portrait'', 1640)
:* Ruisdael, Jacob van – 2 paintings
:* Steen, Jan – 2 paintings
:* Velde, Willem van de Velde (the Younger) – 1 painting
:*Werff, Adrian van der – 1 painting
''English School''
:* Gainsborough, Thomas – 1 painting
:* Gheeraerts, Marcus (the Younger) – 2 paintings
:*Hayter, Sir George – 4 paintings
:*Hoppner, John – 2 paintings
:*Knapton, George – 1 painting
:* Landseer, Edwin Henry – 2 paintings
:* Reynolds, Joshua – 12 paintings
:*George Gower
George Gower (c.1540–1596) was an English portrait painter who became Serjeant Painter to Queen Elizabeth I in 1581.
Biography
Very little is known about his early life except that he was a grandson of Sir John Gower of Stittenham, North ...
– ('' The Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I'', 1588?, one of the greatest English portraits in existence)
''Flemish School''
:* Critz, John de – 1 painting
:* Dyck, Anthony van – 10 paintings (''Aubert Lemire, Dean of Antwerp'', c. 1630)
:* Eworth, Hans – 1 painting
''French School''
:*Bercham, Nicholas – 1 painting
:* Lorrain, Claude (known as Claude Gellée) – 2 paintings
:* Lefebvre, Claude – 1 painting
:* Loo, Carl van – 1 painting (''Portrait of Louis XV'')
:* Poussin, Nicolas – 2 paintings
:* Vernet, Claude Joseph – 2 paintings
''German School''
:* Holbein, Hans (the Younger) – 1 painting
''Italian School''
:* Batoni, Pompeo – 1 painting
:*Canaletto
Giovanni Antonio Canal (18 October 1697 – 19 April 1768), commonly known as Canaletto (), was an Italian painter from the Republic of Venice, considered an important member of the 18th-century Venetian school.
Painter of city views or ...
– 24 paintings (''View of the Entrance to the Venetian Arsenal'', c. 1732 – one of Canaletto's greatest works)
:* Ricci, Sebastiano – 1 painting
:* Salvi, Giovanni (Il Sassoferrato) – 2 paintings
''Spanish School''
:* Murillo, Bartolomé Esteban – 1 painting
:* Velázquez, Diego – 1 painting (''Portrait of Admiral Pulido Pareja, Captain General of the Armada Fleet of New Spain'')
Media appearances
Woburn has been used as a location for filming including: "Five Clues To Fortune" (1957); '' The Iron Maiden'' (1962); '' The Flower of Gloster'' (1967); ''A Lizard in a Woman's Skin
''A Lizard in a Woman's Skin'' ( it, Una lucertola con la pelle di donna) is a 1971 ''giallo'' film directed by Lucio Fulci and produced by Edmondo Amati and Robert Dorfmann. It stars Florinda Bolkan, Stanley Baker, Jean Sorel, Leo Genn, and ...
'' (1971); an episode of ''Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford.
Origi ...
'' (1973) which featured a cameo by the 13th Duke; and '' Treasure Hunt'' (1986).
In Anthony Horowitz's 1987 book ''Public Enemy Number Two
''Public Enemy Number Two'' is a novel written by Anthony Horowitz, the second in ''The Diamond Brothers'' series. It was first published in 1987.Nick Diamond
''The Diamond Brothers'' is a series of humorous children's detective books by Anthony Horowitz, recounting the adventures of the world's worst private detective, Tim Diamond, and his much more intelligent younger brother, Nick Diamond.
The s ...
is framed for the theft of the Woburn Carbuncles. Neil Diamond
Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...
held two concerts on the front lawn of the abbey, in 1977 and again in 2005.
See also
* List of monastic houses in Bedfordshire
The following is a list of the monastic houses in Bedfordshire, England.
Alien houses are included, as are smaller establishments such as cells and notable monastic granges (particularly those with resident monks), and also camerae of the ...
* Woburn Place
The A4200 is a major thoroughfare in central London. It runs between the A4 at Aldwych, to the A400 Hampstead Road/ Camden High Street, at Mornington Crescent tube station.
Kingsway
Kingsway is a major road in central London, desig ...
, Woburn Walk
Woburn Walk is a pedestrian street in Bloomsbury, London, that was designed by architect Thomas Cubitt in 1822, and it is one of the first examples of a pedestrian shopping street in the Regency era. Its name comes from Woburn Abbey, the main cou ...
, Woburn Square
Woburn Square is the smallest of the Bloomsbury squares and owned by the University of London. Designed by Thomas Cubitt and built between 1829 and 1847, it is named after Woburn Abbey, the main country seat of the Dukes of Bedford, who develope ...
in Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...
* Robert Salmon
Robert Salmon (1775 – ) was a Marine art, maritime artist, active in both England and America. Salmon completed nearly 1,000 paintings, all save one of maritime scenes or seascapes. He is widely considered the Father of American Lumini ...
(1763–1821), architect of many buildings on the Duke of Bedford's estate
Notes and references
;Notes
;References
References
*
Attribution:
*
Further reading
*
External links
*
*Th
Woburn Abbey Collection of Classical Antiquities
in the Arachne (archaeological database)
iDAI.objects arachne (short form: Arachne) is the central object-database (administrator: Reinhard Förtsch) of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) and the Cologne Digital Archaeology Laboratory (CoDArchLab) at the University of Cologne.
...
*https://web.archive.org/web/20110612053031/http://www.mspong.org/picturesque/woburn_abbey.html
{{Authority control
Gardens in Bedfordshire
Grade I listed buildings in Bedfordshire
Grade I listed houses
Country houses in Bedfordshire
Monasteries in Bedfordshire
Tourist attractions in Bedfordshire
Historic house museums in Bedfordshire
Art museums and galleries in Bedfordshire
Palladian architecture in England
Cistercian monasteries in England
1145 establishments in England
Christian monasteries established in the 12th century
Gardens by Capability Brown
Shell grottoes
Foreign Office during World War II
Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation
Woburn, Bedfordshire