Audley End Country House visit

Audley End country house visit was something I got to do last Sunday, with my lovely son Matthew and daughter in law Karen. I had seen this house once when I passed on a train and was so surprised that it was only about an hour from where I live.

As we arrived at Audley End I was totally amazed at how beautiful it looked, set in rolling countryside it was just like a movie set.

This is the view as we drove up the drive to the house, can you imagine it being your home! I have a very good imagination and could see ladies in their dresses and gentleman in tall hats, arriving.

Audley was one of the greatest houses of Jacobean England. It was built on the grounds of a Benedictine monastery. When the monastery was suppressed in 1538 by Henry 8th it was converted by Thomas, Lord Audley to a house.
Over the years it was added to and was huge. Over time its size was reduced to make it more manageable. Saying that it is truly a beautiful country house that is a joy to go around. I love history and think these grand houses have so much of interest.
We were lucky to have a very good tour guide who took us through each room and told us the history of the house. Sadly we were not allowed to take photographs inside as the things are so delicate and light sensitive.

The Front Door at Audley End

I think you will agree this is some front door! Not like mine at all! We had to wait here for the tour to start and it was so nice sitting and seeing the wonderful gardens and view.

Above is a picture of myself and Matthew waiting for the tour. I think we look very happy. I think as parents as our children get older spending time with them is often short. They have their own lives and its hard to fit in time like this. That's why I was so happy to have this wonderful day.

Once the tour got started we went into the house and this this the grand hall at the start.

We then went room to room each beautiful in its own right, but very different. Some were very large and grand some more cozy but every one wonderful. I think the tour was around an hour and I was sad to reach the end as it was so nice.

We then had a super lunch with some really naughty cake and then set off to see some of the other buildings.

They had a wonderful kitchen set up as it would have been in the day,  and they even had staff in full costume making cakes.

They also had a laundry were you could see how hard it would have been doing all the house washing. We had to set Karen and kevin to work, so they could burn off all that cake!

However, they then thought I should get working as well, so glad we have modern machines!!

The last place on the list was the stables and gardens. They grow a huge amount of things in the gardens and then they are sold on. I have never seen such a tidy well kept garden. I have never seen such a posh stables!

The horses were very well cared for and loved if the building is anything to go by.

They still have a couple of horses there and you got to pet them . One was the biggest horse I have ever seen! I am 5 feet 1 inch and it was miles above me.

Karen had fun trying on the hats , I think she really looks good in this one..... a Christmas idea !!!!!

It really was a great day and we plan to visit again for their Christmas event. We  had one last walk by the river which had a great bridge and cute ducks

So if you are ever in Essex England go to visit Audley End Country House as it is so worth it. Hope you enjoyed this blog post and all the lovely pictures taken by my son Matthew. We had a fantastic day out and a huge thanks to Matthew and Karen for a membership to the national trust , so we can visit lots more places.