Picture No 0190

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Two trees in the gounds of a snow bound Woburn Abbey.
Woburn Abbey has been the home of the Dukes of Bedford for nearly 400 years. As such, it is steeped in a vast amount of history. It is not just the antique furniture and art that is an attraction; many of the previous residents of Woburn have extremely interesting and colourful pasts.
The history of the Abbey dates back to 1145, and was originally a religious house for a group of Cistercian monks. In 1538 the Abbot, Robert Hobbes, was found guilty of treason and the monastery confiscated. Legend states that he was hanged from an oak tree at the Abbey's gate.
Edward VI granted Woburn Abbey to Sir John Russell in 1547, but it did not become a family home until 1619. In 1747, the Fourth Duke commissioned Henry Flitcroft to rebuild the west range, including the grand series of state rooms.
Then in 1802, under instruction from the 6th Duke, Humphry Repton was asked to landscape the park much as it appears today and his original sketches and plans are still kept at Woburn.

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