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Newstead Abbey
Newstead Abbey, famous as the ancestral home of the poet Byron the one that was "mad, bad and dangerous to know"
is about 12 miles north of Nottingham. It is an easy journey from Rotherham if you avoid the rush hours on the motorway.
The original monastic foundation was founded by Henry II between 1164 and 1174 in memory of his grandfather and as part of the atonement for the death of Thomas à Becket. It was a priory of Austin Canons, also known as Black Canons dedicated to St Mary. The Priory was dissolved in 1540 and Henry VIII granted all the buildings and estates to Sir John Byron of Colwick. The priory buildings were converted for family use and most of the church, except for the west front, was demolished for rebuilding purposes. Members of the Byron family were living there by 1545 but Newstead did not become their main residence until later in the 16th Century.
It has to be said that the many of the Byrons were thoughtless, spendthrift or plain unlucky, or a combination of all three. The fifth Sir John Byron was raised to the peerage as Lord Byron in 1643. The Byron's supported the Royalists in the Civil War and pawned many of their valuables to raise funds. after the defeat of Charles II in 1651, Lord Byron followed the young king into exile. Newstead Abbey was sequestered by the winning Parliamentary side and passed into the hands of Elizabeth Chaworth. In 1661 William Byron married Elizabeth Chaworth, thus regaining the estate for the Byron family.
The fifth Lord Byron was a profligate who reduced Newstead Abbey to ruin. By 1778 the family silver, plate, furniture had all been auctioned off to meet some of his debts but his financial difficulties continued. When he died in 1798 the title and what was left of the estate passed to George Gordon, the sixth Lord Byron. Newstead Abbey was virtually stripped of its contents and in need of repair. He sold the estate to his friend Thomas Wildman in 1817.
Wildman paid £94,500 for the estate and spent £100,000 restoring it. Probably about 20million in modern money. Wildman died in 1859 and his widow left short of funds was obliged to sell the estate. The new owner William Webb added modern improvement like gas lighting and central heating. the stable block, main gate and gatehouse were built in 1862. After Mr Webb died in 1899, the estate passed to each of his surviving children and finally to his grandson Charles Ian Fraser. Mr Fraser sold Newstead to the Nottinghamshire philanthropist Sir Julien Cahn, who presented it to Nottingham Corporation in 1931. At some time the house was sud-divided into grace and favour apartments but these have now gone.
Much of the old priory is still traceable in the present building, great hall, cloisters, vaults. There are lovely gardens, a trifle overgrown in paces, lakes and a wide estate to wander through if you have any energy left after the house and gardens. Café and gift shop. House open 12noon to 5pm, last admission 4pm from 1 April – 30 September. Grounds are open daily (except last Friday in November and Christmas Day) from 9am until 6pm - or dusk, whichever is the earlier - (Please note, last ticket sales and entry are by 4.30pm when the main gate closes). Dogs allowed in grounds on leads. There is a variety of events throughout the season.
Remember to take any old bread for the ducks. And the geese, and the peacocks. They are a set of right old gluttons and some will come right up and mug you for your sandwiches.