Anglesey Abbey. Anglesey Abbey is a country house, formerly a priory, in the village of Lode, miles northeast of Cambridge, England. The house and its grounds are owned by the National Trust and are open to the public as part of the Anglesey Abbey, Gardens and Lode Mill property, although some parts remain the private home of the Fairhaven family. The 98 acres of landscaped grounds are divided into a number of walks and gardens, with classical statuary, topiary and flowerbeds. The grounds were laid out in an 18th-century style by the estate's last private owner, The 1st Baron Fairhaven, in the 1930s. A large pool, the Quarry Pool, is believed to be the site of a 19th-century coprolite mine. Lode Water Mill, dating from the 18th century was restored to working condition in 1982 and now sells flour to visitors. The 1st Lord Fairhaven also improved the house and decorated its interior with a valuable collection of furniture, pictures and objets d'art. A community of Augustinian canons built a priory here, known as Anglesea or Anglesey Priory, some time during the reign of Henry I, and acquired extra land from the nearby village of Bottisham in 1279 and operated as a hospital of St Mary. The canons were expelled in 1535 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Three years later, lawyer, John Hynde owned the priory and gutted the roofs for his new mansion Madingley Hall, leaving Anglesea derelict. The former priory was acquired around 1600 by Thomas Hobson, who converted it to a country house for his son-in-law, Thomas Parker, retaining a few arches from the original priory. At that time the building's name was changed to Anglesey Abbey, which sounded grander than the original Anglesey Priory. In the late 18th century, the house was owned by Sir George Downing, the founder of Downing College, Cambridge. Rev. John Hailstone of Bottisham purchased the abbey in 1848 and altered the building further, adding a stable block and removing the Jacobean dormer windows from the front of the house. Huttleston and Henry Broughton bought the site in 1926 and made improvements to the house. They were the sons of Urban Broughton, who had made a fortune in the mining and railway industries in America and both promised to sell their share should either one be married. Henry married, leaving the abbey to his brother, then 1st Lord Fairhaven, in 1930. Henry later became the 2nd Lord Fairhaven. Meanwhile, the 1st Lord Fairhaven used his wealth to indulge his interests in history, art, and garden design, and to lead an eighteenth-century lifestyle at the house. On his death in 1966, Lord Fairhaven left the abbey to the National Trust so that the house and gardens could represent an age and way of life that was quickly passing. In 1926, Anglesey Abbey was bought by Huttleston Broughton, later Lord Fairhaven, and his brother Henry. The 1st Lord Fairhaven fully restored the house which had fallen into disrepair and began to collect beautiful furniture, artworks and statuary. He restored the dormer windows and installed a mock medieval fireplace. Professor Sir Albert Richardson designed a two storey gallery to house Lord Fairhaven's art collection, including views on Windsor Castle. The Rt Hon. Urban Huttleston Broughton, 1st Baron Fairhaven, was born in 1896 in Fairhaven, Massachusetts. His father, Urban H. Broughton, had amassed a considerable fortune. His mother was Cara Leland Rogers, the daughter of multimillionaire American oil magnate Henry Huttleston Rogers. Rogers had died unexpectedly in 1909 and Urban Broughton had taken over the management of a large part of the Rogers empire. The Broughton family had moved to England in 1912 when Huttleston was sixteen. They lived in Park Lane, Mayfair. Huttleston was educated at Harrow and the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst. In 1916 he became a lieutenant in the 1st Life Guards. He served during the First World War, and retired from the military in 1924. He obtained the title Baron Fairhaven in 1929. One of the great achievements of the 1st Lord Fairhaven was the establishment of the garden at the house. In 1964, when the 1st Lord Fairhaven was still living, Lanning Roper wrote a book entitled The Gardens of Anglesey Abbey, in which he described the careful planning of this remarkable garden with its many vistas, avenues, rare and common trees, pools, statues and river temples. He describes the way in which huge areas of sky and mown grass were used to balance symmetrical planting and how Lord Fairhaven used the trees and shrubs to make groups of contrasting colour and foliage. To commemorate the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937, Lord Fairhaven planted an extensive avenue of trees with a crossing avenue at the far end.