Anglesey Abbey

About the museum

Anglesey Abbey began as a medieval hospital said to have been founded around 1135 and became a priory of Augustinian canons in the early thirteenth century, although it was never strictly an abbey. After Henry VIII closed the monasteries in 1536 the buildings fell into decay, and in 1609 the surviving monastic living quarters were turned into a house. Later owners included a London merchant and a vicar who gave the property its present name in the nineteenth century.

In 1926 the brothers Huttleston and Henry Broughton, later Lord Fairhaven, bought the house with 45 acres. Huttleston, the 1st Lord Fairhaven, had inherited a large American fortune and spent the next four decades turning it into a comfortable home for entertaining friends, with a library wing, a Tapestry Hall and a gallery for Old Master paintings added between the 1930s and 1950s. He filled it with silver, clocks, tapestries, sculpture and a large library of books, and in 1934 he bought the neighbouring Lode Mill as a feature for the garden.

Fairhaven also created one of the most important twentieth-century gardens in England, with separate garden rooms for dahlias, roses and herbaceous plants, a woodland arboretum, long avenues and a very large collection of garden statues. When he died in 1966 the property passed to the National Trust, which has kept the house and grounds as he arranged them. The service wing has been reopened as it was in the 1960s, and a winter garden and a woodland play area have been added.

Highlights

• Jacobean-style house built on a medieval priory
• Lord Fairhaven's collections of silver, clocks, tapestries and paintings
• Library of thousands of richly bound books
• More than 100 statues in the gardens
• Winter garden, dahlia garden and rose garden
• Eighteenth-century Lode Mill with working machinery

Permanent exhibitions

• The house and the Fairhaven collection – Rooms furnished by the 1st Lord Fairhaven, including the Library, the galleries of Old Master and Windsor paintings, the Tapestry Hall and the restored 1960s Domestic Wing.
• Statue collection – More than 100 sculptures placed around the gardens, one of the largest collections of garden statuary in the National Trust.
• Lode Mill – An eighteenth-century watermill with traditional machinery and displays on the ground floor.

Founded

1966

Operated by

National Trust

Admission & discounts

Prices are shown without Gift Aid; with Gift Aid the adult ticket is £20.90, the child ticket £10.50 and the family ticket £52.30. The prices apply from 1 March. Free entry for National Trust members, for children under 5 and for members of the Royal Horticultural Society.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: not available
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The ground floor of the house can be entered without steps by a ramp into the Living Room (ask at the front door) or through the Domestic Wing, but there is no lift or step-free access to the first floor. Large print and braille room guides and a photograph album are available. More than 20 Blue Badge bays lie in the main car park, the nearest about 22 metres from the visitor centre, and the paths from the car parks are flat and hard. All-terrain mobility scooters, wheelchairs and a mountain trike can be hired if booked 24 to 48 hours ahead; two wheelchairs can be borrowed at the house, but powered scooters are not allowed inside. A shuttle runs between the visitor centre and the house when staff and volunteers are available. The Winter Garden route suits wheelchairs and scooters best, with a few steep slopes. Induction loops are at the till points, accessible toilets are in the visitor centre and near the house, and a borrow box with fidget toys and ear defenders is in the visitor centre. Only assistance dogs are allowed in the house and grounds.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops
• Activity booklet, scavenger hunt or kids’ audio guide
• Baby changing facilities
• Playground / play area

The woodland play area has a climbing frame, swings and balance beams, and a den-building area stands nearby; it is a walk of 15 to 20 minutes from the visitor centre and has no toilets. Seasonal trails run through the gardens, including a Winnie-the-Pooh story trail until 3 January 2027, and spotter sheets are available. Baby-changing facilities are at all toilet blocks and breastfeeding is welcome anywhere on site. Bikes and scooters are allowed for children aged four and under only.

Getting there & parking

From the A14 take junction 35 and drive through Stow-cum-Quy towards Lode on the B1102; the entrance gate is on the left. Some older satnav systems do not recognise the postcode CB25 9EJ, so entering Lode can be safer. Cyclists can follow National Cycle Network routes 11 and 51 from Cambridge. Visitors arriving by train, bus or bike can claim a free hot drink with a valid ticket or a cycle helmet.

Amenities & dining

• Café
• Restaurant
• Museum shop
• Wi-Fi

Redwoods Restaurant in the visitor centre serves hot food from 11:30 to 14:30 and drinks, snacks and cakes. The Garden Office Café by the house sells takeaway drinks and snacks. There is a shop, a plant centre and a second-hand bookshop. Free National Trust Wi-Fi is available in the visitor centre; there is no Wi-Fi or phone signal in the house and phone reception is very limited in the gardens.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

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