Battle Abbey

Performance Spaces

Overview

History

Bibliographic Sources

Legend
map legend

Base layers

Data layers

Other Images

18th c. view
Abbey gate
Approach
Exterior
Ground plan
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Venue Type & Location

Private Residence

Site Name: Abbot's House, Battle Abbey
Location: Battle
County: Sussex
Location Type: Town - in town at determined location

Performance Spaces

Great hall

Overview

The 15th c. house of the abbot of Battle Abbey, located on the hill site of the 1066 battle of Hastings, was converted for use by Sir Anthony Browne as a residence after 1538.

Only the W range of the monastic cloister incorporating the former abbot's house remains relatively intact. The undercroft and 2 imposing towers of Sir Anthony Browne's 16th c. guest house range complete the site.

Performance History

Probable performance venue. Entertainers patronized by the Browne family performed elsewhere in the later 16th c.

Current Status

An English Heritage property. The abbot's house has been converted for use and leased to the Battle Abbey School. Not open to the public during term but tours available during school breaks.

History of the Venue

1538 Abbey dissolved and the site granted to Sir Anthony Browne. The abbot's house formed the core of a new family residence, preserving the former 14th c. gatehouse entrance to the abbey. The former outer court became the inner court. New wing added on the site of the abbey guest house, with another connecting it to the S end of the later hall. Abbey church, chapter house and most of the cloisters demolished; S cloister used as a service area. The 13th c. hall was divided into bedrooms; new W front added to the abbot's great chamber.

late 16th c. New range of guest lodgings built by Anthony Browne, 1st Viscount Montagu, over the undercroft of the abbey's guest range.

1719 Sold to Sir Thomas Webster by the 6th Viscount Montagu. Some renovations including the addition of sash windows and a new entrance doorway.

later 18th c. Demolition of some 16th c. additions.

early 19th c. Extensive repairs and renovation by Sir Godfrey Vassall Webster. New timber roof and chimneypiece added to the hall as well as carved oak wainscotting and doors throughout. New kitchen and scullery built.

1858 Purchased by Sir Henry Vane, later Duke of Cleveland. Library and rooms in neo-Gothic style added to the S of the abbot's range.

late 19th c. Estate repurchased by Sir Augustus Webster.

1931 Fire gutted most of the house above the subvaults except the library and its adjacent rooms, the N end, kitchen and offices. Subsequent remodelling has restored some of the original layout (Brakspear, 'Abbot's House' 145).

1976 Abbey and battlefield purchased by the Department of the Environment.

Record Source

REED Coventry 343; Devon 244; Somerset 1.12, 54--5

Patrons who owned this venue

Name Dates Titles
Browne, Anthony 1500-1548 Knight , Knight of the
Browne, Anthony 1528-1592 Knight of the , 1st Viscount
Browne, Anthony Maria 1574-1629 2nd Viscount

Bibliographic Sources

View a list of abbreviations.

  • Anonymous. History of Battle Abbey. London: William Clowes and Sons, 1877.
  • Brakspear, Harold. 'The Abbot's House at Battle.' Archaeologia 83 (1933): 139–66.
  • Buck, Samuel, and Nathaniel Buck. [A Collection of Engravings of the Castles, Abbeys, and Towns in England and Wales]. 5 vols. London: The authors, 1726–52.
  • Cromwell, Thomas. Excursions in the County of Sussex. London, Islington and Essex: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; J. Greig; and Youngman, 1822.
  • Emery, Anthony. Greater Medieval Houses of England and Wales 1300–1500. 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1996–2006.
  • Hare, J.N. Battle Abbey: the Eastern Range and the Excavations of 1978–80. Archaeological Report no. 2. London: Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, 1985.
  • Hare, J.N. 'The buildings of Battle Abbey.' Proceedings of the Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies III (1980): 78–95.
  • Hare, John. 'William the Conqueror and Battle Abbey.' History Today 35 (Dec. 1985): 33–8.
  • Horsfield, Thomas Walker. The History, Antiquities, and Topography of the County of Sussex. 2 vols. Lewes: Nichols & Son, 1835.
  • Howard, Maurice. The Early Tudor Country House: Architecture and Politics 1490–1550. London: George Philip, 1987.
  • Nairn, Ian, and Nikolaus Pevsner. Sussex. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth, Midd: Penguin Books, 1965.
  • Salzman, L.F., C.R.J. Currie and T.P. Hudson. The Victoria History of the County of Sussex. Victoria History of the Counties of England. 8 vols. London: Oxford UP, 1905–7 [vols 1–2], 1935 [3], 1953 [4], 1997 [5], 1980–7 [6], 1940 [7], 1937 [9].
  • [Ticehurst, F.W]. Gleanings respecting Battel and its Abbey. Battle: F.W. Ticehurst, [1841].
  • Timbs, John. Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales: Their Legendary Lore and Popular History. 3 vols. London: Frederick Warne and Co., 1872.
  • Turner, Thomas Hudson, and John Henry Parker. Some Account of Domestic Architecture in England, from Richard II. to Henry VIII. 3 vols (vol 3 in 2 pts). Oxford: John Henry and James Parker, 1851–9.