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Hartland Abbey A guide to Devon, England, highlighting attractions, history, and visitor information. |
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 Hartland Abbey
Hartland Abbey is tucked neatly in a quiet, secluded valley about a mile from the North Devon coast, and equally far from the village of Hartland. The Abbey was founded in 1137 by Lord Dynham, lord of the manor at Hartland, as an Augustinian monastery, serving the church of St Nectan at nearby Stoke, which is the parish church for Hartland. The abbey remained in the hands of the Augustinians until 1547, when it was the last monastery in the country to be dissolved by Henry VIII. The king gave Hartland to his Sergeant of the Wine Cellar at Hampton Court Palace, William Abbot. The abbey passed through several branches of Abbot's descendants until it came into the hands of George Buckley in 1813. Buckley's grandson changed the family name to Stucley, and Hartland is still the home of the Stucleys today. The original monastic building is incorporated into the present house on the west side, and much of the remainder is built upon the Augustinian foundations. The first major renovations to the monastic buildings was the work of Paul Orchard, who became lord of the manor in 1704. Orchard's son, also named Paul, pulled down many of the original features of the monastic buildings, including the abbey chapel and Great Hall, to make way for grand Georgian building that you can see today. House
Interior The Alhambra Corridor was designed in 1862 by Victorian master architect Sir George Gilbert Scott in imitation of the Alhambra Palace in Spain. The owner of the house at that time, Sir George Stucley, was so struck by the Moorish design of the palace that he instructed Scott to create vaulting and stenciling that would recreate the look of Alhambra in North Devon!
The first three reception rooms open to the public are worth noting. These are the Drawing Room, Billiard Room, and Dining Room. They were built in 1779 by the second Paul Orchard, and remodeled by Sir George Stucley beginning in 1845. Sir George took as his inspiration the neo-Gothic Houses of Parliament in London. The rooms feature linen fold paneling below and exquisite murals above. The murals are modeled after a series in the Robing Room of the House of Lords, were the painting depicts scenes from Arthurian legend. In this case the murals show scenes from history involving Stucley ancestors. For many years the paintings were covered over with wallpaper, and it was only when the wallpaper began to show signs of age and was removed that the wonderful artwork beneath was revealed. There are extensive grounds at Hartland Abbey, with a Shrubbery, Walled Garden, and a Ladies Walk. There is also a quite lovely shaded walk to a private beach (distance about 1 mile) that leads through open woodland with bluebell woods, before crossing the South West Coast Path and emerging at the coast. Beach Walk from Hartland Abbey click to see a larger image
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