Lacock Abbey was founded in the early 13th century by Ela, Countess of Salisbury, as a nunnery of the Augustinian order. The abbey remained a nunnery until the suppression of Roman Catholic institutions in England in the 16th century when it was then sold privately and converted the convent into a residence. It was fortified and remained loyal to the crown during the English Civil War, but surrendered to the Parliamentary forces once Devizes had fallen in 1645.The house was built over the old cloisters and its main rooms are on the first floor.The house later passed into the hands of the Talbot family, and during the 19th century was the residence of William Henry Fox Talbot. In 1835 he made what is reckoned be the earliest surviving photographic camera negative, an image of one of the windows.Now in the hands of the National Trust, the abbey itself and the village where it is located make regular appearances on TV and in films including several of the Harry potter films
Lacock Abbey was founded in the early 13th century by Ela, Countess of Salisbury, as a nunnery of the Augustinian order. The abbey remained a nunnery until the suppression of Roman Catholic institutions in England in the 16th century when it was then sold privately and converted the convent into a residence. It was fortified and remained loyal to the crown during the English Civil War, but surrendered to the Parliamentary forces once Devizes had fallen in 1645.The house was built over the old cloisters and its main rooms are on the first floor.The house later passed into the hands of the Talbot family, and during the 19th century was the residence of William Henry Fox Talbot. In 1835 he made what is reckoned be the earliest surviving photographic camera negative, an image of one of the windows.Now in the hands of the National Trust, the abbey itself and the village where it is located make regular appearances on TV and in films including several of the Harry potter films
