In August, 1806, at age 30, Jane Austen accompanied her mother to visit Stoneleigh Abbey, an estate in Warwickshire recently inherited by her maternal cousin, Reverend James Leigh.
Cassandra Leigh Austen (1739-1827) was part of the large Leigh family, many of whom lived at Stoneleigh for about 400 years. Formerly a Cistercian Abbey, founded in 1154, it was taken over by Sir Thomas Leigh, Lord Mayor of London, in 1558 after Henry VIII's Dissolution of the Abbeys.
Above photos from Author Kim Wilson.
Various structures comprised the residence over the centuries until, to quote Wikipedia, "Between 1714 and 1726 a new palatial four-storey fifteen-bay wing was built to designs by architect Francis Smith of Warwick. The result was an impressive baroque West Wing, built of silver-coloured stone, which was fashionable at that time. The Abbey's remarkable feature is the Saloon, one of the great interiors of Georgian England. Andor Gomme referred to it as 'almost the swan song of baroque figurative plasterwork in England'." Below, left, The West Facade; right, the Saloon. Photos from Wikipedia. Please click on the thumbnails for larger versions.
Various structures comprised the residence over the centuries until, to quote Wikipedia, "Between 1714 and 1726 a new palatial four-storey fifteen-bay wing was built to designs by architect Francis Smith of Warwick. The result was an impressive baroque West Wing, built of silver-coloured stone, which was fashionable at that time. The Abbey's remarkable feature is the Saloon, one of the great interiors of Georgian England. Andor Gomme referred to it as 'almost the swan song of baroque figurative plasterwork in England'." Below, left, The West Facade; right, the Saloon. Photos from Wikipedia. Please click on the thumbnails for larger versions.
Above left and right, the conservatory, photos from Kim Wilson. The grounds were one of the projects of landscape designer Humpry Repton (1752-1818.)
Above, left the lake and conservatory; right, the Gatehouse, a 14th-century remainder of the ancient Abbey structures. Both photos courtesy of Kim Wilson, author of Tea with Jane Austen, In the Garden with Jane Austen, and At Home with Jane Austen. Visit her website at:
https://www.kimwilsonauthor.com/
Thank you, Kim.
https://www.kimwilsonauthor.com/
Thank you, Kim.
On August 13, 1806, Mrs. Austen wrote about visiting Stoneleigh, "... I had expected to find everything about the place very fine and all that, but I had no idea of its being so beautiful. I had pictured to myself long avenues, dark rookeries, and dismal yew trees, but here are no such dismal things. The Avon runs near the house, amidst green meadows, bounded by large and beautiful woods, full of delightful walks."
It is left to Jane Austen's readers to speculate about which qualities of Stoneleigh she used in the settings of her novels.
It is left to Jane Austen's readers to speculate about which qualities of Stoneleigh she used in the settings of her novels.
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