Anglesey Abbey, Gardens and Lode Mill
A National Trust house in the village of Lode, built on a priory site, with 98 acres of gardens and a working watermill.
From priory to country house
The house stands on the site of an Augustinian priory that was dissolved in 1536. The Fowkes family took over the site in 1595 and turned what was left into a Jacobean-style house. Thomas Hobson, the Cambridge carrier behind the phrase "Hobson's choice", was among the later owners. Two brothers, Urban Huttleston Broughton and Henry Rogers Broughton, bought it in 1926, and Urban became the 1st Baron Fairhaven. Lord Fairhaven built a library wing in 1937 and a picture gallery in 1956 to house his collections; his Windsor Castle holdings alone ran to more than 750 paintings, prints and drawings. On his death in 1966 the house and everything in it passed to the National Trust. The house is Grade I listed.
Gardens and mill
The 98 acres of grounds are Grade II* listed, and Lord Fairhaven laid them out in the manner of an eighteenth-century park. They include rose, dahlia, herbaceous and hyacinth gardens, a Winter Garden opened in 1998, and a collection of over 100 sculptures. Lode Mill, at the edge of the grounds, was acquired by Lord Fairhaven in 1934 and restored, and it returned to working order in 1978.
Practical notes
On 12 October 2026 the National Trust listed the garden as open from 09:30 to 17:00, with last entry an hour before closing, and the house as partly open from 11:00 to 16:00. Adult admission was £19.00, or £20.90 with Gift Aid, and National Trust members enter free. The same page names Cambridge as the nearest station, 7.1 miles away, and describes a 7-mile cycle route from the city centre along the River Cam. Opening times vary by date, so check the National Trust page before setting out.
People connected with this place
- Thomas Hobson (1544–1631), Carrier and stable keeper