East of England - Essex

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AUDLEY END HOUSE & GARDENS

Audley End, Saffron Walden,
Essex
CB11 4JF
t: 01799 522842
e: audleyend.house@english-heritage.org.uk
w: www.english-heritage.org.uk/audleyend

Audley End is the best place in England for groups to discover how a thriving country house worked, both for the servants and their masters. Built in the 1600s and lived in until 1948, this noble Jacobean mansion has been re-dressed to evoke its days as a decadent Victorian home for Lord and Lady Braybrooke. Groups with horticultural enthusiasts can also enjoy the seasonal changes in the Walled Organic Kitchen Garden - from blossoming fruits and a busy schedule of planting and pruning, through to the autumn harvest.


  • Tour the 1880s Service Wing. Lifelike sights and sounds illustrate how Victorian servants lived and worked ‘below stairs’. Live interpreters are present on selected weekends.
     
  • Step into the aristocratic Nursery Suite presented as it was once used and equipped with hands-on replicas of 1830s toys and period costumes.
     
  • Wander into Lady Braybrooke’s private lounge, dressing room and bedroom — dimly lit for her return from a party.
     
  • Visit the working stable block and its horses. Activities include daily riding displays and horse grooming sessions.
     
  • Explore the vast gardens and parkland which recently earned the gardening team a national award for conservation and presentation. Groups can enjoy Capability Brown’s naturalised landscaping, serpentine lake and dramatic, sweeping carriage drive.

 

TOP TIP

Play the piano in the Library, or relax on the sofa with views over the pretty parterre.

 

TIE IT INTO YOUR TRIP

Planning a trip between London and Cambridge on the M11? Stop off half way at junction 8 or 10 and you’re only a few minutes from Audley.