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Audley End House

(vero;2022-July-20)

Audley End House is a 17th century mansion built between 1605 and 1614 by Thomas Horward, 1st Earl of Suffolk and Lord Treasurer to James I. Unfortunately it is forbidden to take photos within the house (except for the servants' quarters) so we have no pictures from the inside; click here for a description from English Heritage and here to view a few examples of the art collection of the house (many portraits and some quite gloomy paintings). The one thing we enjoyed very much is the extensive taxidermy collection assembled by the 4th Baron Braybrooke, it is really worth seeing.

The gardens have been landscaped by the unavoidable Capability Brown who had his hands in many gardens we visited this year.

View of Audley End House as seen when arriving along the long drive from the main road. It is built in the Jacobean style, everything is very symmetrical with clear lines and many windows. The house was much bigger as what is left today: see this page to follow the evolution of the building over the centuries. It is still very impressive today.

One of the two entrance porches at the west front of Audley End.

Detail of the frieze over the porch of the previous picture. This is a panorama: press F to expand the picture to its real size and use the bottom scroll bar to navigate through it.

Inside the servants' quarters: the kitchen. This page by English Heritage details the life "below stairs" at Audley End in the 1880s.

Inside the servants' quarters: the kitchen.

By the 18th century servants were gradually being consigned to distant service wings, rather than waiting close at hand to attend on their masters, so mechanical bell systems were introduced to summon them when needed. Audley End House was no exception to that trend and had an extensive system of bell pulls or levers, connected to bells in the servants’ quarters by long and complicated runs of wire.

Audley End House seen from the back. The small formal garden near the building is closed by a terrace which merges into the wide landscaped grounds.

Bridge over the river Cam seen from the lawn in front of the house.

Go back to Kenilworth Castle or go on to Wrest Park

$updated from: English Heritage Snapshots.htxt Mon 04 Mar 2024 16:04:47 trvl2 (By Vero and Thomas Lauer)$