Hartland Abbey is a Georgian manor house, built on the foundations of a 12th century monastery. The Abbey is tucked in a secluded valley about a mile from the North Devon coast. Hartland Abbey was founded in 1137 by Lord Dynham, lord of the manor at the nearby village of Hartland, as an Augustinian monastery.

Hutton-in-the-Forest is a beautiful historic house in a quiet village on the northern outskirts of the Lake District National Park. The house features a Stuart facade, with two towers, one a 14th century pele tower, the other a Victorian Gothic addition.

Woburn Abbey was founded as a Cistercian monastery in the middle of the 12th century. The abbey was dissolved by Henry VIII  as part of his  Dissolution of the Monasteries, and the last abbot was hung before the abbey gates.

Edward VI granted Woburn to Sir John Russell, and it has been in the hands of the Russell family ever since.

2009 marks the 500th anniversary of the year that Henry VIII ascended to the throne of England. To mark the occasion I'll be writing about places associated with this most controversial of kings. This article looks at Knole, a stately home once owned by Henry.