Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. 

Extensive and complex park and pleasure grounds around a country mansion. Main phases 18th century and early 19th century, using a 17th-century base, with early 18th-century work by George London and Charles Bridgeman, and early 19th-century work by Humphry Repton.

NOTE

This entry is a summary. Because of the complexity of this site, the standard Register entry format would convey neither an adequate description nor a satisfactory account of the development of the landscape. The user is advised to consult the references given below for more detailed accounts. Many listed buildings exist within the site, not all of which have been here referred to. Descriptions of these are to be found in the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest produced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Woburn Park lies on the Greensand Ridge of low hills, adjacent to the village of Woburn to the west and 7 kilometres north-east of Leighton Buzzard. The 1200-hectare park is bounded to the south-west, north-west and north by the A4012 road from Hockliffe to Ridgmont, and to the east partly by the lane from Ridgmont to Milton Bryan and partly by agricultural land and woodland. Those stretches bounded by roads are enclosed by high, red-brick walls.

One length of wall, about 200 metres situated 1.3 kilometres west of the house, is of reduced height, the upper portion being replaced with an iron fence and gates in the form of a clairvoie to give views of the broad, west avenue beyond, known as Wayn Close.

The setting is largely agricultural, with the large wooded expanse of Wavendon Heath and Bow Brickhill woods to the west, and the villages of Woburn, Ridgmont and Milton Bryant lying close to or adjacent to the boundaries. An area of farmland adjacent to The Evergreens wood, outside the north-west boundary, links the enclosed park witt Aspley Wood, some 4 kilometres north-west of the Abbey. Formerly ornamental woodland, possibly laid out by Humphry Repton, it is now used for mineral extraction with surrounding commercial woodland. Repton's associated 15th-century-style Henry VIII Lodge (1810-1811, listed Grade II) and small garden lie at the north-west corner of the wood.

REFERENCES

Note: There is a wealth of material about this site. Some key references are cited below.

S Dodd (printer), Guide to Woburn Abbey (1845), pp 44-50

The Victoria History of the County of Bedfordshire 3, (1912), pp 458-61

Country Life, 117 (31 March 1955), pp 854-8; (14 April 1955), p 987; 138 (8 July 1965), pp 98-102; (15 July 1965), pp 158-61; 173 (31 March 1983), pp 772-5

R Strong, The Renaissance Garden in England (1979), pp 139-41

G Carter, P Goode and K Laurie, Humphry Repton (1982), p 147, col pls 5, 6, pls 52, 57, 78

Maps

Mapp of the Mannor of Woburn the possessions of Lord Russell, 1661 (Bedfordshire Record Office)

Plan of the Manor & Parish of Woburn, 1738 (Bedfordshire Record Office)

T Jefferys, The County of Bedford, 1765

A Bryant, Map of the County of Bedford, 1826

Map of Woburn, 1831 (Bedfordshire Record Office)

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1881

    2nd edition published 1901

    3rd edition published 1926

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1880

Description written: September 1997

Amended: April 1999

Edited: May 1999