A manor and its gardens, deemed "one of Essex's most beautiful heritage sites", sits nestled in Saffron Walden and still houses horses in a Victorian stable block.
Audley End House and Gardens was built around 1605 to 1614 on the site of the medieval Benedictine abbey in the Cam Valley.
After the Norman Conquest in 1066, a large manor initially named Walden Abbey came under the control of the de Mandeville family - the Earls of Essex.
However, it was surrendered to the crown in 1538 during Henry VIII's Reformation and five days later it was granted to Sir Thomas Audley - Lord Chancellor and former Speaker of the House of Commons.
According to English Heritage, ownership of the land was later passed to Thomas Howard, whose son - of the same name - undertook the "ambitious" rebuilding of the property on the footprint of the old abbey.
English Heritage says: "Audley End was the most ambitious house of its period in England.
"In form and scale it was a royal palace in all but name, intended to accommodate royal visitors on their progresses around the country.
"The impressive house that can be seen today is only about a third of the size of the vast mansion created in about 1605–14 by Thomas Howard."
Charles II bought the house and gardens for £50,000 in 1667 after particular attraction to its proximity to Newmarket races.
Around 1670, English Heritage notes that neither Charles II nor his successors made much use of the house and it was by then "both old-fashioned and fast deteriorating, despite repairs by the Office of Works".
It was returned to trustees in 1701 and 50 years later was bought by Elizabeth, Countess of Portsmouth for her nephew Sir John Griffin Whitwell.
She demolished the east range and began to introduce "informality" into the landscape, planting trees in a more "natural" fashion.
Whitwell inherited the estate and employed architect Robert Adam to connect the two sides of the reduced house and landscaper Lancelot 'Capability' Brown to design the gardens described as "among the largest and most opulent in Jacobean England" by English Heritage.
From 1820, owner Baron Braybrooke embarked on the last major reworking of the house.
His aim was to "recover the Jacobean character" and the surviving 17th century elements were repaired and stripped of paint, new work in the same style was added, and much of the interior work was retained.
In 1940 Audley End was requisitioned for war use and "served as the headquarters of the Polish Section of the Special Operations Executive", according to English Heritage.
From 1984, management of Audley End House and Gardens passed from the Ministry of Works to English Heritage.
Kirstie Horne, English Heritage's site manager for the property, told the Recorder: “Audley End was one of the finest houses in 17th century England and remains one of Essex’s most beautiful heritage sites.
"With its beautifully landscaped gardens, brand new playground, working stables and stunning interiors, it’s a fantastic day out for all of the family."
Today, visitors can explore the house and gardens including the "intricately designed Parterre".
The resident horses can also be seen in their "grand" stables and sometimes "show off their skills" in riding displays.
English Heritage says the significance of the manor is not confined to its Jacobean era as this is only one stage in an "exceptionally long period of evolution" shaped by its various owners.
It adds: "Elements from all these periods remain visible in the landscape, adapted and overlain by formal Jacobean landscaping, a late Georgian park and its ornamental buildings, and finally the mid-19th century partial return of formality."
Share