Hartland Abbey is a former abbey

Abbey

An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...

 and current family home to the Stucley family. It is located in Hartland, Devon

Hartland, Devon

The town of Hartland, which incorporates the hamlet of Stoke to the west and the village of Meddon in the south, is the most north-westerly settlement in the county of Devon, England....

. The current owner is Sir Hugh George Copplestone Bampfylde Stucley, 6th Baronet

Sir Hugh George Copplestone Bampfylde Stucley, 6th Baronet

Sir Hugh George Copplestone Bampfylde Stucley, 6th Baronet is the only son of the late Major Sir Dennis Frederic Bankes Stucley, 5th Baronet, and the late Sheila, Hon. Lady Stucley...

.

Hartland Abbey was built in 1157 and consecrated by Bartholomew Iscanus

Bartholomew Iscanus

Bartholomew Iscanus was a medieval Bishop of Exeter.-Early life:Bartholomew was a native of Normandy, and was probably born in Millières, a village in the Cotentin near Lessay and Périers. He was a clerk of Theobald of Bec, Archbishop of Canterbury before becoming Archdeacon of Exeter in 1155...

 in 1160 (Bartholomew was appointed Bishop of Exeter

Bishop of Exeter

The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The incumbent usually signs his name as Exon or incorporates this in his signature....

 the following year). It was converted into an Augustinian abbey in 1189. In 1539 it was the last monastery to be dissolved

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

 by Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

. The King gave the building to William Abbot, his Sergeant of the Wine Cellar at Hampton Court. William Abbot converted what had been the Abbot's Lodging into a mansion. The present house incorporates a few components from Tudor times but is mainly the wing added to the old house in 1705 (the north-west corner being the work of 'Mr Mathews' (according to the author of the Beauties of England and Wales). Further alterations were done about 1860. The gardens were laid out by Gertrude Jekyll

Gertrude Jekyll

Gertrude Jekyll was an influential British garden designer, writer, and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the UK, Europe and the USA and contributed over 1,000 articles to Country Life, The Garden and other magazines.-Early life:...

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