Abbey House

(Grade II listed in 1956, as "Abbey farmhouse with shed and walling to east")

According to the 2003 Conservation Plan for the Abbey precincts, this is a 17th or 18th century longhouse, suggested by its style and position vis-a-vis the "Malt House", and has been modified over the years without amalgamation of earlier buildings (presumably countering the belief that it was once the Abbots' lodgings). In the same way, the boundary walls mark post-Dissolution boundaries (i.e. they are later than 1539) and, as in Abbey House itself, any monastic stones that are visible are insertions rather than original features.

Abbey House was very much a working farm in the 19th century, surrounded by allotments and greenhouses, but ~ as can be seen in the 1920s postcard view below ~ it boasted a croquet lawn and a tennis court. By the first half of the 20th century, it was home to the three Misses Hawkins, daughters of the village doctor, and was later owned by Roger Ross Turner, son of the potter who set up his studio in West Street, who researched and refurnished the house, which is now run as a guest house by Jonathan and Maureen Cooke. The gardens have been considerably changed since the time of the Appreciation photograph, opening them up to lawns for guests and tearoom customers.

(Photograph loaned by Dave Stevens)

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