A brief history of the House
Sometime during the reign of Henry I (died 1135), communities of Augustinian monks were being established in Britain.
The Augustinians devoted their lives to the worship of God, their devotion was reflected in strict rules of conduct.
Their daily routine would begin in the early hours of the morning with the 'Night Office' and conclude with 'Compline' well into the evening.
They wore black robes (habit) with hoods, but were not subject to shaven heads (tonsure).
Considering everything to be the property of God they lived in poverty and were relatively self-subsistent, fishing from a series of carp ponds in the grounds and making use of a water-mill on the site of where the present mill stands today.
The precise date when the Augustinian priory of Anglesey was founded is not know.
We can say that a community was well established at Anglesey by 1279, when it is documented that the wealthy nobleman Richard de Clare bequeathed half of the manor of Bottisham to the religious house of Anglesey.
Today as one enters through the front porch, a Latin inscription neatly sums up the 900 year history of the site, it translates as:
THIS BUILDING WAS FOUNDED FOR RELIGIOUS PURPOSES
IN THE REIGN OF HENRY I
AND DESTROYED BY THE EIGHTH RULER OF THE SAME NAME
IN THE YEAR 1609 THOMAS PARKER
REVIVED IT AND MADE IT SUITABLE FOR THAT AGE
THE VERY REVERENT MAN HAILSTONE
RE-BUILT AND LOOKED AFTER IT IN 1861
THE LATEST TO CARRY OUT SUCH PIOUS SERVICE
IN THE YEAR 1926 WITH BROTHERLY SOLICITUDE
WERE HUTTLESTONE AND HENRY BROUGHTON
MAY THIS HOME
AFTER PASSING THROUGH SO MANY CHANGES
REMIAN NOW FOR A LONG TIME
Four hundred years of being a religious community came to an end in 1535 with Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries.
When the site passed into the hands of the Parker family at the turn of the 17th Century, they set about transforming it into a country house.
Today the south façade is a reminder of this period in Anglesey's history.
It was in fact Thomas Parker's father-in-law Thomas Hobson who actually purchased the site at this time.
Thomas Hobson was a famous Cambridgeshire carrier who gave rise to the phrase Hobson's Choice.
Other notable owners include Sir George Downing, whose estate in 1800 went into the foundation of Downing College Cambridge.
In the nineteenth century Anglesey passed to the Hailstone family.
The Rev. John Hailstone acquired the site in 1861.
His son Edward was a local historian it is thanks to his research and 'A History of Bottisham', a book he published in 1873 that we know as much about the mediaeval origins of the site as we do.
In 1926, Huttlestone and Henry Broughton purchased the site.
The brothers were drawn to the area because of its proximity to Bury St.Edmunds where they owned a stud farm, and also because it was ideal for horseracing at Newmarket.
When Henry Broughton married in 1937, his brother Huttlestone, (by then known as the 1st Lord Fairhaven) became sole owner of the property.
The Broughtons set about adapting the site into a home and place for entertaining guests.
They employed the London architects W.S. Lord and Co. in particular Mr Sidney Parvin, to perform alterations.
Where possible care was taken to retain the original stonework and features of the 12th Century priory.
The result is for all to see today!
Anglesey was entrusted into the care of the National Trust in 1966, upon the death of The 1st Lord Fairhaven.
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