Lacock Abbey
 Abbeys |
To the east of the village, standing serenely in its own grounds is Lacock Abbey, founded in 1232 by Ela Countess of Salisbury as an abbey for Augustinian nuns. Only seven years of age when her father died, she became a ward of Richard the Lionheart who married her to his stepfather William Longsword. The couple conceived several children but William was often away at the wars. After one particularly long absence his death was assumed, although Ela refused to accept his demise. Eventually, he did return only to fall sick and die shortly afterwards, the grieving Ela waited for her sons to come of age before founding Lacock Abbey. She lived for a further 35 years after her husband had passed away.
The 13 th century cloisters, sacristy and the nun's charter house are preserved from Ela's time, though in later centuries there have been changes; Lacock Abbey was the last religious house to be dissolved by Henry VIII.
Eventually acquired by Sir William Sharington in 1540, it was converted into a mansion house; he constructed the living quarters around the former nunnery, thereby retaining many of the abbey's original features. Sir William did however, pull down the convent church to build stables on the site and was responsible for erecting the curious octagonal tower overlooking the River Avon. In the 18 th century a later owner, John Ivory Talbot, remodelled the abbey buildings to give a Gothic appearance; the Gothic revival style of architecture was in vogue in the early part of the century. The result is a fascinating blend of architectural evolution culminating in one of England's most beautiful houses.
One of John Talbot's descendants, William Henry Fox Talbot, was an early pioneer of photography who carried out some of his earliest photographic experiments at Lacock Abbey. He constructed his first camera in 1835 and famously took his first photograph that same year from a window in the south gallery of the abbey, for which he was awarded the Royal Society medal. Standing near the abbey gates is a 16 th century barn now converted to house the Fox Talbot Museum; on display within are examples of his work including his first recognisable photograph, his first cameras and calotypes, darkroom equipment and letters, together with international awards. Most recently. Lacock Abbey was used as the setting for "Hogwarts", the magicians's school where Harry Potter was educated.
Lacock Abbey, like most of the village, is owned by the National Trust and is open daily to visitors during the summer season, except on Tuesdays when only the grounds are open - the abbey grounds are famous for the sheets of snowdrops that cover them in early springtime.