C0064 - Lacock Abbey, Wiltshire (1)

Lacock Abbey

Lacock Abbey is a National Trust Property in Wiltshire, and dates from 1232 when it was built as an Augustine nunnery. The building became a country house after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and its most famous resident was probably William Henry Fox Talbot, one of the pioneers of photography in the 19th century.

The property is one that I have passed by on several occasions in the last few years on my way to Dorset. I'd been intending to call in on my way down on my 2010 and 2011 holidays, but circumstances meant that I never quite managed it, and I came to the conclusion that perhaps the best thing I could do for my initial visit was to make a journey specifically to visit the Abbey, as this meant that I would be able to concentrate fully on it without having to worry about my arrival in Swanage. Having not been able to get to Dorset in 2012, I made it one of my activities during my September holiday of that year.

In May 2015, I did use Lacock as a rest point during my southbound trip to Dorset, although I didn't do as comprehensive a visit as I had done in 2012, leading me to conclude that making a dedicated trip to the property was probably the best way of dealing with it, at least as far as a first visit goes. Some of the 2012 photographs have been replaced by ones taken in 2015, and others from the 2015 session have supplemented the collection.