A HISTORY OF ESSEX 



Henry, Baron De La Warre (d. i628).32 !„ j^jy 

 Isabella mortgaged the manor to Hugh, ist Baron 

 Coleraine, for ;(^3,ooo.-'3 After this debt, and the 

 interest accruing on it, had remained unpaid for more 

 than ten years, Coleraine began a suit for the recovery 

 of £^,4.00.3* In 1653, after incurring legal costs 

 exceeding ^^1,000, he came to an agreement with Lady 

 De La Warre, whereby he obtained ownership of the 

 manor in return for cancellation of the debt.^s 



In 1654 Coleraine sold the estate for ^^5,360 to 

 Robert Abdy, later ist Bt. (created 1660) of Albyns.3* 

 Afterwards the manor descended with this baronetcy 

 until the latter became extinct on the death of Sir John 

 Abdy, 4th Bt., in 1759.'^ ^" accordance with the 

 terms of Sir John's will the estate then passed to his 

 aunt Mrs. Jane Crank, afterwards to Sir Anthony 

 Thomas Abdy, 5th Bt. (created 1641) of Felix Hall, 

 and on his death in 1775 to his nephew the Revd. 

 Thomas Abdy Rutherforth.'* Rutherforth, who 

 adopted the surname of Abdy on succeeding to the 

 estate, died in 1798.2' His son and heir John Ruther- 

 forth Abdy died in 1 840 leaving as his heir his nephew 

 Sir Thomas Neville Abdy, ist Bt. (created 1850) of 

 Albyns.*" Afterwards the estate, which in about 1845 

 consisted of 585 acres,'" descended with this baronetcy 

 until the death of Sir Anthony Abdy, 3rd Bt., in I92i.*2 

 Shortly after this Albyns was pu rchased by an American*' 

 and later by a Mr. Veryard,''* but by 1929 it was in the 

 ownership of F. G. Mitchell who retained it until the 

 Second World War.*5 After the war it was purchased 

 by Mr. W. H. Twynebam who is still the owner.''* 



There was formerly a very fine manor house at 

 Albyns, most of which dated from the early 17th 

 century. It incorporated parts of a smaller house which 

 was probably built by the Cely family in the middle 

 of the i6th century. The building was fully surveyed 

 in 1920 by the Royal Commission on Historial Monu- 

 ments.*' A few years later the American owner re- 

 moved most of the elaborate 17th-century fittings and 

 transported them to the United States.*' The subse- 

 quent ovvTier demolished the north side of the house 

 and rebuilt the facade farther back.*' In 1945 the 

 building was partly destroyed by a rocket bomb and it 

 is now (1954) in process of demolition. so 



In the 1 8th century it was generally believed that 

 the design of Albyns was by Inigo Jones. Horace 

 Walpole considered this unlikely: 'if he had any hand 

 in it, it must have been during his first profession and 

 before he had seen any good buildings. The house is 

 handsome, has large rooms and rich ceilings, but all 

 entirely of the King James's Gothic's' Later opinion 

 confirms Walpole's view.'^ Although the exterior with 

 its tall windows and pedimented dormers is advanced 

 for its period, there is no sign of the more mature 

 classical work which is generally associated with Inigo 

 Jones. 



The house, which was built of brick, was arranged 

 round four sides of a square courtyard. Parts of the 



south and east ranges were of the i6th century and 

 one of the four stair turrets in the courtyard was of the 

 same date. A rainwater head dated 1620 has been 

 taken to indicate the time at which the courtyard plan 

 was completed and most of the interior work carried 

 out. The external elevations had plain gables and large 

 brick dormers with pedimented heads and flanking 

 consoles. The windows were mostly of the mullioned 

 and transomed type and on three of the fronts there 

 were splayed bays of two stories. The symmetrical 

 entrance front, facing north, had a central two-storied 

 porch, the lower stage being of rusticated brickwork 

 with moulded brick pilasters and a semicircular arch. 



In the older part of the house there were three stone 

 fireplaces and a ribbed plaster ceiling of the i6th 

 century. The bulk of the interior fittings, which were 

 extremely rich, are thought to date from 1620. A long 

 gallery occupied the whole of the west range on the 

 first floor and this had fine panelling, an elaborate 

 chimneypiece, and a plaster ceiling with strapwork 

 designs and enriched ribs and panels. The room adjoin- 

 ing it had a coved ceiling of similar type but including 

 moulded pendants. The only fitting of this period 

 which is still in situ is the fine oak staircase: it has a 

 balustrade of carved strapwork panels and heavy square 

 newels with moulded finials. The female figures which 

 crowned the newels and which probably represented 

 the Arts and Virtues have now disappeared. 



Some of the woodwork on the first floor dated from 

 the time of Robert Abdy, ist Bt. The shields in the 

 spandrels of the older fireplaces were painted with the 

 date i654and the initials ^^k (fo"" Robert and Katherine 

 Abdy) and the panelling bore the arms of Abdy and 

 Gayre. A finely executed estate map of Albyns,'' 

 drawn by John Kersey, survives from this period. It 

 shows the layout of the grounds with stables and a dove- 

 house to the east of the mansion and a straight avenue 

 leading south from the main entrance. An enlarged 

 elevation of the north front proves that this side of the 

 house suffered remarkably little change between 1654 

 and its final demolition in the 20th century. 



In 1754 the building was restored: an inscription 

 in a bedroom recorded that 'this house was repaired, 

 sashed and beautified by Sir John Abdy Bt. 17 54'. 5* 

 Morant (1768) commented that this was done 'very 

 judiciously, he keeping in his repairs to the old taste' 

 in which the house was built.ss 



In the first half of the 19th century the straight ap- 

 proach from the north was abandoned and the present 

 curving drive constructed.'* The octagonal brick 

 lodge is of the same period. 5' Later in the century a 

 large brick water tower was built over the north range 

 of the house. 



Two of the outbuildings at Albyns are of interest. 

 East of the mansion is a contemporary red-brick range, 

 formerly used as staff quarters and harness rooms. It 

 has now been converted into a residence. Farther to 

 the north-east is a coach-house block, now garages. 



» E.R.O., D/DDa Ti; ibid.; D/DDa 

 M21. J3 E.R.O., D/DDa Ti. 



M Ibid. 



" Ibid. 



" Ibid. 



" Burke, Peerage ( 1 9 1 3), 49—50. 



i« E.R.O., D/DC 27/102-3; ibid. 

 D/DC 27/1122; ibid. Q/RPl 685-703; 

 Burke, Peerage (191 3), 49-50. 



" Burke, Peerage (1913), 50. 



«« Ibid.; E.R.O., e/RPI 704-737; 

 ibid. D/CT 330. 



*' In the parishes of Stapleford Abbots 

 and Navestock: E.R.O., D/CT 248, 330. 



« Kelly'! Dir. Essex (i874f.); Burke, 

 Peerage (1949), I. 



■" Inf. from Mr. W. H. Twyneham 

 jun., son of the present owner. 



« Ibid. 



*' Inf from Mr. W. H. Twyneham 

 jun. 



<» Ibid. 



<' Hist. Man. Com. Essex, ii, 222-5 (with 

 plates). The following description of the 



226 



house prior to 1920 is based on this survey. 



<s Inf from Mr. W. H. Twyneham 

 jun. 



« Ibid. 50 Ibid. 



" Anecdotes of Paitiling (1S2S), 347. 



52 E.A.T. N.s. iv, 53. 



53 E.R.O., D/DC 27/1 121. See pi. fac- 

 ing p. 226. 



'♦ E.A.T. N.s. iv, 53. 

 5s Morant, Essex, i, 177. 

 56 E.R.O., D/CT 330. 

 " Ibid. 



