In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Audley End like this:
AUDLEY-END, a railway station and a noble park near Saffron-Walden, Essex. The station is on the Eastern Counties railway, 1½ mile W by S of Saffron Walden, and at the junction of the branch railway thither. The park lies between the station and the town, on the river Granta; and is the seat of Lord Braybrooke. ...
A bridge is in it by Adams; and a camp, on Ermine-street. The mansion is part of a splendid Tudor pile, built in 1603-16. It occupies the site of a Benedictine priory of 1136; and was erected by Howard, Earl of Suffolk, afterwards Lord High Treasurer of England, and named after his uncle, Audley. It was offered by the Earl to James I., who declined to have it on account of its being too costly; was sold by a succeeding Earl to Charles II., who failed to pay the purchase-money, and renounced possession; and was found by its owners to be so intolerably expensive, in the maintaining of a due establishment for it, that a large portion of it had to be taken down. What remains of it is magnificent; and it contains some valuable paintings and a fine museum.
Audley End through time
Audley End is now part of Uttlesford district. Click here for graphs and data of how Uttlesford has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Audley End itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Audley End, in Uttlesford and Essex | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20654
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
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