Buckland Abbey
- chirp54
- Jun 9
- 6 min read
About an hour out of Kingsbridge, our home for the next couple of weeks, lies Buckland Abbey.
It was established as a Cistercian Abbey in 1278 by Amicia, Countess of Devon. It is said that she did this to honor her husband and son who had been killed, and to ensure that they would be prayed for in perpetuity.
The Cistercians – known as ‘white monks’ due to their undyed habits – were a branch of the Benedictine Order. They believed in the importance of a life of austerity, prayer and manual labor, working as ploughmen, dairymen, shepherds, carpenters and masons. In fact, their farming skills and investment in local industry eventually made the order one of the richest and most influential.
Buckland remained an Abbey until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. In 1541 Henry sold Buckland to Sir Richard Grenville, the Elder. Along with his son, Sir Roger Grenville, he began to convert the abbey into a residence, renaming it Buckland Grenville. Sir Roger was captain of the Mary Rose, and died when it sank when the English fleet was engaged with the French in the English Channel. Roger left a son, Richard, who completed the conversion of the abbey in 1576. In 1581 the property was sold to Sir Francis Drake, Elizabethan hero, sea captain, privateer and slave trader. He was the first Englishman to circumnavigate the globe and was able to purchase Buckland Abbey using a fraction of the treasure from the voyage. His later role in the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 cemented his fame. Drake was rarely at home during his ownership of Buckland Abbey. With thoughts always of the sea, his last voyage was in 1595. He died of dysentery in 1596 and was buried at sea. Buckland remained in the ownership of the Drake family and their descendants until 1946 when Captain Richard Owen Tapps Gervis Meyrick (how's that for a handle?) sold the house to Captain Arthur Rodd, who presented the property to the National Trust in 1947. It was seen as a ‘national responsibility’ to save Buckland Abbey as ‘an important symbol of our heritage, the home of one of Plymouth’s famous sons, Sir Francis Drake'.
It's not the easiest place to get to since one has to follow lots of one-lane twisty-turny roads, which the locals call "rat runs."
It's well worth the trouble, though, because Buckland is beautiful. To enter, we crossed a courtyard where the Trust sells plants raised on the estate,
and checked in at the welcome center where two charming ladies gave us a brief introduction to the property and handed us a map tracing the best route to follow. Our first stop was the Great Barn which the Monks built to store wool, fleece, cattle hides and crops such as oats, wheat and fruit from their nearby orchards.
Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the Great Barn was used for different agricultural purposes and was modified for ‘modern farming practices’ in the 1790s.
During the Second World War, the Barn was used by the Admiralty to store grain.
Exiting the barn, we passed lovely herb gardens on the path that leads to the house.
Once inside, a guide gave us a rundown of what was where in the house and directed us to a room filled with murals by Roland Pym. The original choice of artist for these murals was Adriene Truscott, but for unknown reasons Pym was selected to paint them. He based his work on the original sketches by Truscott, commemorating key events in the life of Sir Francis Drake.
In the bottom left corner is an illustration of Queen Elizabeth I holding a portrait of Drake.
The largest mural, which covered almost the entire wall, was "The World Encompassed by Sir Francis Drake," an illustration of the known world during Drake's time.
The next stop, one flight up, contained items associated with Drake, and with seafaring in general.
My favorite item of the collection was a paper maché globe from the late 18th century. These were designed as status symbols or souvenirs, rather than working tools. They offered their owners a way to develop and show off their working knowledge of history and geography. The interior shows a colorful map of the stars, traditionally used for navigation.
Off that room is Drake's Chamber, one of the most complete Elizabethan rooms, with fireplace and paneling dating to Richard Grenville's conversion of the abbey to a country home in the 1570s. The ceiling is a modern replacement.
The Dining Room contained one of the National Trust's treasures, a self portrait by Rembrandt Van Rijn.
The volunteer in the room was kind enough to shine a light on the face to make it easier to see.
It had been recently cleaned. Previously, it was so dark as to be almost unidentifiable. The volunteer and I talked about Rembrandt's ability to paint fabric. The velvet really looked like velvet and the decorative lace and embroidery around the sleeves were so vividly rendered that you could almost feel their texture.
Because the room is kept fairly dark to protect the paintings in it, they display a photograph of what the painting looks like when illuminated.
A series of stairways led to the top floor
where, on one side of the house, Drake's voyages are celebrated. Parts of the room are decorated to represent the interior of a ship
and just past that is an area where children can try on typical Tudor garments, and where posters tell of life at Buckland and the sort of foods eaten during the Tudor period.
On the other side of the stairway is an exhibition called. "Threads Through Time: A Journey Through Clothing." Volunteers have sewn replicas of clothes from 1278 through today - today being represented by a National Trust polo shirt, so not included in my gallery.
As in most historic houses, a visit to the lowest floors led to a kitchen, in this case, one from the Tudor period.
The last two rooms were the most interesting to me. The first was Buckland Abbey's chapel. It was discovered by the last Lady Drake, when workers broke through a wall in 1917 revealing the high alter of the monks and the burial place of Amicia, founder of the abbey. It was restored by Lady Drake, with just small bits of the original room visible.
The last room, the Great Hall, was probably the first room created when the abbey was converted to a great house in the 16th century. The staggering thing about the room is that the room is original to that period, the wooden paneling, the floors, even the elaborate plaster work. We were so lucky that the volunteer in the room, Andrew, shared with us his wealth of information.
Decorating the beams that support the ceiling are centaur figures representing the different continents known at the time.
Asia:
Africa:
Europe:
North America
The great frieze at one end of the hall is said to represent Richard Grenville's life.
The frieze at the other end may represent South America:
The overmantel contains figures representing the four virtues: Justice, Temperance, Courage and Prudence.
At the top of the paneling along one wall are figures of imps and musicians, indicating that it may have been where musicians played during banquets.
Also in the Great Hall is Drake's chair.
Near the chair is the Chatham Chest. The Chatham Chest was a naval charity established around 1590. Each sailor would pay about 2.5 pence per month into the box and any sailors who were too old or ill to fight would be paid out of it. Originally each Chatham Chest would have had one padlock held by a senior officer, but due to the money "disappearing" this style was created with four locks, keys of which were held by four officers.
Exiting the house you can see remains of the original walls of the Abbey. This would have been the area where the nuns prayed. After dissolution, it was used as a card room. How rude.
The grounds of Buckland Abbey include several gardens and lots of walking paths.
The Elizabethan Garden:
Another small barn held a collection of farming equipment.
A short walk led us to the Kitchen Garden, which was showing the results of the wonderful spring weather and the sheltering stone wall.
In the Cider House Garden there were beautifully planted borders,
delightful views of the adjacent meadows,
and, through the stone arch,
a peaceful, shady woodland walk.
From there it was a short walk past the conveniently placed gift shop, to the exit.
Ticking another National Trust property off the list, I found myself thinking how happy I am that I joined the Royal Oak Foundation, which helps to support these properties for future generations, and how lucky I am to be able to visit them.
What an interesting place. So many different gardens!