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Audley End tel: 01799 522 842 Area: Essex |
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| Visitor Information | www.english-heritage.org.uk -- email: linda.dyer {at} english-heritage.org.uk | |||||||||||
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Audley End |
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| Opening Days and Hours | ||||||||||||
1st Apr - 30th Sept; Wed - Sun; 10am - 6pm; |
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| Parties
/ Coaches: Yes |
Groups
/ Coaches need Appointment: Yes Pre-booked guided tours 10am - noon extra fee payable |
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House
Open for Viewing: Yes |
National
Garden Scheme days: no |
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| Best
Times of Year to Visit: June - July |
To
see: Parterre and Kitchen Garden |
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| Admission Prices | ||||||||||||
| House & Gardens. Adult £10.70; Child £5.40; Concessions £9.10; Family £26.80 (2 adults + 3 children) Service Wing & Gardens: Adult £7.70 Child £3.90(under 5s free); Concessions £6.50; Family £19.30. (not available on event days) |
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| Onsite Facilities | ||||||||||||
| Parking:
Yes Lavatories: Yes Disabled Access: Yes |
Shop:
Yes Plants for Sale: Yes Lunches: Yes |
Teas:
Yes Light Refreshment: Yes Picnics: Yes |
Dogs
Allowed: Yes On Lead only: Yes Special Events: Yes |
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| Other
Facilities: 7th - 9th Apr; Craft and Food Show 5th - 7th May; Garden Show 25th - 27th Aug; Country Show |
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| Garden Features | ||||||||||||
| Lancelot 'Capability' Brown landscape, Adam bridge, 1830's parterre, organic walled kitchen garden Jacobean House with Robert Adam rooms, Canalettos etc. Archaeologically surveyed & restores Fish Hatchery and Historic kitchen with displays of utensils |
English Heritage Garden Grade: I | |||||||||||
| National Collection: | ||||||||||||
| Description of Garden | Designer:
'Capability' Brown |
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| Beautiful 'Capability' Brown designed landscape with a parterre, now restored, planted on the south side of the house in the 1830's. The River Cam winds through the grounds and is used to create a cascade, a pond garden and is crossed by a lovely Robert Adam designed bridge and by a Palladian Tea House. Other spectacular monuments include a "Temple of Concord" built to celebrate George III's (temporary) recovery from madness and several other follies designed and sited to draw the eye down a particular vista. The organic kitchen garden, a joint venture between between English Heritage and the Henry Doubleday Research Organisation, was opened in 2000 by Prince Charles and is laid out in a huge area surrounded by old brick walls. The 16th century brick stables to the south of it are older and more attractive than the house itself. The Mount garden, originally designed to allow guests at the house to promenade in the garden, viewing it from a height, is also scheduled to be restored. | ||||||||||||
| History of Garden | ||||||||||||
| This is an ancient site which was originally owned by a Benedictine Abbey. An enormous house, with expansive formal gardens, was built for Thomas Howard, the admiral who commanded the British fleet against the Armada and was later created Earl of Suffolk. It was acquired by Charles II in 1669, James I having previously described it as "too large for a King, but might do for a Lord Treasurer!". The vast wings on the house, which marched towards the River Cam, were pulled down after Sir John Griffin Griffin (later 1st Lord Braybrooke) bought the property in the mid-18th century. He favoured a more naturalistic approach and commissioned 'Capability Brown' to discard the formal rectangular layout and landscape the gardens and park very much as it appears today. The 3rd Lord Braybrooke planted the parterre in the 1830's. The property was acquired by English Heritage after WWII. | ||||||||||||
| Nearby Essex Hotels, Facilities & Amenities | ||||||||||||
| Hotels
& Accommodation: |
Restaurants: |
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| Inns & Pubs: Axe & Compasses, Arkesden Cricketers, Clavering |
Villages / Towns
/ Sightseeing: Audley End Saffron Walden |
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- Essex |
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*Information
Updates
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0193_AudleyEnd.jpg - Audley End (Essex)
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