Discover the House at Anglesey Abbey

Autumn House — Anglesey Abbey in the Autumn

A staff member conserving Lord Fairhaven's wardrobe — See how we care for the many items of clothing found in the collection.

With the days getting shorter, and autumn setting in, step inside the House to marvel at the nature-inspired displays and discover where nature appears within the collection.

The dining table set for Christmas at Anglesey Abbey

Creating Christmas

With autumn well and truly here, preparations have turned to Thanksgiving and the Christmas season inside the House. Whilst we make this transition from our focus on the collection, it is a great opportunity to have a chat with the team as they change displays ahead of our Thanksgiving focus, beginning on the 16 November. Come back between 30 November and 6 January to discover our festive offer, Tinsel and Tweed, inside the House. Tickets must be prebooked, more info can be found by clicking here.

What's coming up

An Anglesey Abbey Thanksgiving

Visit between 16-28 November, where Lord Fairhaven’s American roots will be celebrated at Anglesey Abbey as we give thanks in the House. Step inside to discover how Lord Fairhaven celebrated this American holiday, with traditional Thanksgiving foods.

Pre-booked House entry this Christmas

Click here to find out how to pre-book your timed entry to the House this Christmas time. Please note that the time on your ticket denotes your window of entry to the House, and once inside please feel free to take your time as you soak up the festive atmosphere.

The Dining Room at Anglesey Abbey, prepared for Christmas.

Christmas at Anglesey Abbey

Plan your perfect festive day out at Anglesey Abbey now. We'll be celebrating Thanksgiving from 16 November, inviting you to Winter Lights from 28 November and spreading Christmas joy with Tinsel & Tweed and Anglesey Abbey: The Board Game from 30 November: there is something for everyone this Christmas.

News

Anglesey Abbey Objects on loan to the British Museum

The Shield of Achilles and The Arrival of Aeneas at Pallanteum by Claude Lorrain will be exhibited as part of a major upcoming exhibition at the British Museum, ‘Troy: myth and reality’. A total of three objects from National Trust collections will join the exhibition, including two from Anglesey Abbey. The exhibition runs from 21 November 2019 - 8 March 2020 and will tell Troy’s legendary stories through diverse range of objects including artworks as well as archaeological discoveries that suggest there may be a real Troy behind the myth. Loaning objects to external organisations is an important part of the National Trust’s work to ensure that our collections are accessible to everyone. By loaning to external bodies, millions of people can see our collections worldwide. To find out more, and learn more about National Trust loans click here.

Nature in the collection

9 September - 15 November | Daily

This autumn we’re inviting you to explore nature in the collections. With over 10,000 objects to furnish his home at Anglesey Abbey, Lord Fairhaven built his collection out of many different materials found in nature, including wood, leather and precious stones.

Journey through the house, with each space highlighting a different material, and learn more about the methods that our conservation team use care for them, including monitoring and preventative conservation.

The Living Room

Discover all of the different types of materials that make up Lord Fairhaven's extensive collection. From wood, to leather, to prescious stones, nature is found everywhere.

Learn how we care for, clean and monitor different objects based on what they are made from.

In this room, you're also able ot spin the wheel to find out mow many objects we have made from natural materials, from lapis lazuli to leather.

Oak Room

The Oak Room is home to a floral painting by Ambrosius Bosschaert, which was purchased by Lord Farhaven's brother, Henry Broughton. This painting was one of many flower paintings and botanical drawings collected by Henry Broughton, several of which are displayed throughout the House.

Uncover the history behind the commercial production of oil paints, their natural sources, and the tools used to keep them clean for future generations to admire. There's even an opportunity to get hands on and clean a painting yourselves!

The Newmarket Corridor

Discover the Newmarket corridor where you’ll find Lord Fairhaven's bedroom and bathroom, as well as a guest bedroom and explore the preventative measures we take to minimuse deterioration and manage change of all objects in the house.

Familiarise yourselves with the ten agents of deterioration, including fire, light and even loss!

Library

Find our about the natural materials in books and how the conservation team work to prevent dust accumulating. Books can be made from entirely natural materials, from pages made from pulped wood, or inks made from ashes, there's a secret natural world hidden within the shelves of our Library!

Use your knowledge of the ten agents of deterioration and how this may effect our books. From light damage, changes in temperature and pests, there's a lot more than meets the eye to keeping a Library such as Lord Fairhaven's in tip top condition.

Ongoing conservation

Discover how the team care for over 6000 books and how silk taffeta plays a role in keeping them dust free for longer. Go beyond the book cover, pick up a book from the book barrow and take a comfy seat to read.

Upper Gallery

In the Upper Gallery, discover the different outfits in Lord Fairhaven's wardrobe, and what they're made from.

His wardeobe contains a large variety of clothing, suitable for many different social and formal occasions. Light damage can cause textiles to become brittle over time, which means that we monitor the levels of light very carefully.

A display of Lord Fairhaven's clothing in the Newmarket Bedroom. — Discover Lord Fairhaven's varied wardrobe, with outfits suitable for every occasion.

Admire the different outfits worn by Lord Fairhaven, and how each of thewse played a part in his lifestyle. Get hands on with the different types of material, and see how we monitor light levels in material.

The annual clean will also be going on in the Lower Gallery, where you'll find the team in action cleaning the treasures displayed in this space.

Dining Room

Lord Fairhaven had a fondness for collecting silver and silver gilt objects, many of which were purchased just because they took his fancy.

This space will be transformed to display his silver collection, with information on how we care for this prescious metal.

Domestic Wing

The Domestic Wing will house information on our impressive statue collection, and how we care for it.

In the Kitchen, find out how Lord Fairhaven brought over one hundred statues to the grounds of Anglesey Abbey, all made from natural materials.

All outdoor statuary can be affected by the weather, organic matter and pollution in the atmosphere around us. For this reason, the statues are cleaned annually by a dedicated team of volunteers. You may have seen them covered up in the winter.. This is to protect them from the frost throughout the colder months.

Find out how we monitor and clean the statues and even have a go at getting hands on with conservation equipment yourself by cleaning a statue!

The Dining Room at Anglesey Abbey was built in about 1236

Delve a little deeper..

Click here to find out more about the history of the house itself, including the previous owners and how Lord Fairhaven transformed it into the home you see today.