Lacock, Abbey and River Avon

Cruck House, with one of its cruck beams (curved roof timbers) exposed, is a rare example of the 14th century building method. If a man could build his roof in one day, he could claim the freehold of the land on which the house stood. So two huge curved beams and plenty of thatching straw would be collected and on the appointed day all the neighbours would be called in to help erect the roof.

A massive tithe barn with eight large bays is a reminder of the time when the villagers had to pay their rent in produce to the Abbey. Later the barn became the market hall as Lacock flourished with the growth of the wool trade. The wealth of the inhabitants, based on spinning and weaving, is reflected in the quality of their well built homes. All please the eye and no two are exactly alike. Among the few 18th century buildings is a small domed lock-up. In the early twentieth century, the sympathetic villagers would refresh the unfortunate imprisoned victims with saucers of tea - cups were too large to go through the door!

The Talbot family, who owned Lacock, transferred it with the Abbey to the National Trust in 1944. The Trust has conserved it wisely, as exemplified by their solution to the problem of television reception in the village. There is not an aerial in sight. Television is piped into Laycock from a single aerial on the nearby hillside. Of course, this method is becoming redundant as satellite and broadband techology takes over from the aerial.

As you look through the gates from the village across the wide lawns that sweep down to the River Avon, you can see the elegant 18th century west front of Lacock Abbey inside. Many of the features of this 13th century religious house have been preserved. Lacock Abbey was founded by Ela, Countess of Salisbury in 1232 for Augustinian nuns. The sacristy, the chapter house and the warming room date from her time. Lacock Abbey was the last religious house in England to be closed during the Dissolution, as Henry VIII's commissioners could find no fault with the nuns, who were 'of virtuous living'.

In 1540 the Abbey was bought by Sir William Sharington, who kept much of Ela's original building and the beautiful cloisters which had been rebuilt in the 15th century. He converted these medieval features into his own dwelling house, adding console windows and Tudor chimneys to the refractory and dormitory, and built a fine octagonal tower in the south-east corner.

It was through the marriage of his niece Olive, that the Abbey passed to the Talbot family. Olive was refused permission to marry Talbot and locked in her room. But in defiance, she leapt from her window into the arms of her lover. Impressed by her bravery, the Sharington's relented and the couple were married.

In 1754, John Ivory Talbot employed Sanderson Miller to design a new hall for the Abbey. It is decorated with terracotta figures in niches and Talbot must have pleased his friends, the local landowners, when he had the whole ceiling painted with their coats of arms. The Abbey remains a family home, for descendants of the Talbots still live there as tenants of the National Trust.

A 16th century barn near the approach to Laycock Abbey has been converted into the William Henry Fox Talbot Museum. Opened in 1975, it houses a collection of historic photographs and photographic equipment, as well as material relating to the life and scientific research of Fox Talbot.

The River Avon curves around the grounds of the Abbey. It was important to the medieval settlement of Lacock as a trade route to and from the port of Avonmouth. Today, walking by the river, you can watch the ducks and moorhens swimming in by the reeds and herons fishing in the shallows.