Albyns or Albyns Manor is a former
Jacobean country house
image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...
near
Stapleford Abbotts
Stapleford Abbotts is a village and civil parish in the Epping Forest district of Essex, approximately SW of Ongar, N of Romford and SSE of Epping. The whole parish is within the M25 motorway. The village covers and had a population of 959 ...
,
Essex
Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...
, built largely about 1620
and demolished about 1954.
Its former service range,
coach house,
and remaining walls and garden pavilion
are
Grade II
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
listed buildings.
History and architecture
The house was built around an earlier, late 16th century building in its Eastern and Southern ranges. This building likely had the
Great Hall
A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...
in the South range, however during or by the grand Jacobean rebuilding, the Hall was moved to the North range.
The house contained several valuable rooms and was considered "an unusually complete example" of its period. The house was purchased by
Sir Robert Abdy in 1654 and was sold by his family in the 1920s. At that time many of the rooms were transported to the USA.
Notable rooms
Great Hall
The hall was reportedly greatly updated aside from its fireplace of dark marble.
Main staircase
The main staircase was early 17th century in date and had newels with "square moulded pendants and terminals surmounted by carved female figures, probably representing the Arts and Virtues."
Dining Room
The Dining Room contained a 17th-century plaster ceiling and a carved chimneypiece.
Long Gallery
The Long Gallery occupied the West side of the house. It had a 17th-century plaster ceiling, 17th century panelling, 18th century doors, and a black marble fireplace. After the demolition, the room made its way to the now closed Jack's Bar, San Francisco.
There was a suite of rooms above the Long Gallery with many original features.
Other rooms
Several other rooms retained 16th century fireplaces, several had decorative plaster ceilings and freizes, and many were panelled, many with 17th century panelling. Some original doors remained, and in the South turrets there remained original 17th century staircases.
References
{{coord, 51.6497, 0.1778, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
Country houses in Essex
Buildings and structures in Epping Forest District
Buildings and structures completed in the 1620s
Buildings and structures demolished in the 1950s