Amesbury Abbey (house)
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| Amesbury Abbey | |
|---|---|
 Amesbury Abbey, 1890s | |
| Location | Amesbury, England |
| Coordinates | 51°10′28″N 1°47′07″W / 51.1745°N 1.7854°W |
| OS grid reference | SU15104172 |
| Built | 1840, 1859 |
| Current use | Care home |
| Architect | Thomas Hopper |
| Architectural style(s) | Palladian |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
| Official name | Amesbury Abbey |
| Designated | 10 January 1953 |
| Reference no. | 1131079 |
  Location of Amesbury Abbey in Wiltshire | |
Amesbury Abbey is a Grade I listed mansion in Amesbury, Wiltshire, England, built in the 1830s for Sir Edmund Antrobus to designs of Thomas Hopper. The house, which stands in Grade II* listed parkland, is now used as a care home. It takes its name from Amesbury Abbey, founded in about 979 on or near the same site.
A Benedictine nunnery known as Amesbury Abbey was founded by Ælfthryth (wife of Edgar) in about the year 979 on a site near the River Avon. Henry II replaced it in 1177 with a house of the Order of Fontevraud, known as Amesbury Priory, which continued until the Dissolution in 1539.[1]
The priory and its extensive landholdings were granted to Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford (later Duke of Somerset). Some of the priory buildings were destroyed, while others were probably reused to form a house for the Seymours.[1]
This house was rebuilt in 1660–1661 to designs of John Webb, for William Seymour (1588–1660) and his successor, a grandson, also William.[1][2] In 1720 it was bought by Lord Carleton,[3] and was included in Colen Campbell's 1725 Vitruvius Britannicus, a collection of engravings of the great houses of the time.[4]
Harrison's 1786 Picturesque Views of the Principal Seats of the Nobility and Gentry[5] shows single-bay wings added by the Duke of Queensberry, perhaps designed by Henry Flitcroft.[2] It has been described as "the perfect example of the 'temple front' house, formed by adding a pedimented temple portico to a domestic block".[6] From the mid-18th century the house became known as Amesbury Abbey.[7]
Description
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The present house was built in 1834–1840 by architect Thomas Hopper for Sir Edmund Antrobus, who had bought the property in 1825.[7] It is constructed on the same foundations as the 1661 house,[7] in a cubic form of Chilmark limestone ashlar with slate roofs. It has three storeys and attics, and is described by Historic England as "a grander reinterpretation of its predecessor".[2] The main south front has nine bays, of which five sit behind a portico of six composite columns. The main entrance was originally on a piano nobile behind the colonnade.
The building was extended and much altered in 1857–1859 after an 1855 fire, with Hopper again the architect. John Belcher criticised the outcome in his 1901 book, particularly the use of rustication on both lower floors, the lack of connection between the portico and the rest of the building, and the use of single sheets of glass in the windows. He notes that the original design was crowned by a central cupola.[8]
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