Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Audley End (Audley End)

Audley End is a magnificent mansion, one of the finest in England, situated at the hamlet of Audley End, near Saffron Walden in Essex.

But breathtaking though it is, the house is only a fragment of its original size, when it was built for Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, and completed in 1616. When he saw it, James I exclaimed that it was "too large for a king".

It is on the site of Walden Abbey, which at the Dissolution of the Monasteries Henry VIII gave to Thomas Audley, his Lord Chancellor. It was Audley`s grandson who began the present building.

The original architect was Bernart Janssen, while Robert Adam provided interiors and John Vanbrugh additions.

The magnificent gardens are by Capability Brown, and incorporate a number of furnishings, including a three arched Bridge and a Circular Temple, both by Robert Adam; a Palladian bridge; Springwood Column; Temple of Concord; and Icehouse Lodge.

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