09 May 2011

Abbey House




Abbey House is the Mayor's house in Winchester. There are just five cities in the country having official residences for their Mayors and Winchester is one of them. Abbey House was built around 1700 and stands on the site of a monastic establishment known as Nunnaminster and later as St. Mary's Abbey, which was founded around AD900 by Alfred's Queen Ealhswith. 

Abbey House was originally a private house, which changed hands several times.  In 1889, the City Council bought the property and gardens "for public purposes". Since that time, the grounds have been open to the public and the house made available to the incumbent Mayor.

5 comments:

  1. Very beautiful. I love the brick work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks great, nice reflection in the window. No city in Sweden has that system for the Mayor, but the County Governors usually lives in a residence.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love this place. I could handle living there : )

    ReplyDelete
  4. Very grand. Would love a house complete with turrets.

    ReplyDelete