Milton Abbey

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Milton Abbey in the late 19th century.

Milton Abbey panorama

Milton Abbey in Dorset was a Benedictine foundation, but only part of the church now survives and is used as the Milton Abbey School chapel. The medieval church burned down in 1309, and rebuilding had barely begun at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. In 1771, to make way for a new house, the 1st Baron Milton (later 1st Earl of Dorchester) demolished the remaining abbey buildings, keeping only part of the church as a private chapel, and moved the surrounding village (creating Milton Abbas in the process) in 1780. The new house was designed by William Chambers and the gardens by Capability Brown.

The abbey was founded by King Athelstan, and there are two medieval paintings of the King and his mother in the chancel. Another of the church's benefactors was John Tregonwell, whose family came into the possession of the buildings following the Dissolution. Tregonwell fell from the roof of the church in a childhood accident, but his life was saved when his wide pantaloons filled with air and broke his fall. In thanks, he bequeathed his library to the church.

The abbey church is built in a mixture of Ham stone, Chilmark stone and flint. Its style is mostly Decorated Gothic dating from the mid 14th century. The Earl and Countess of Dorchester were also generous to the church, and their joint tomb, designed by Robert Adam with sculpture by Agostino Carlini, is to be found in the north transept. Perhaps the most striking feature of the church's interior, however, is its south window, designed as a Tree of Jesse by August Pugin.

In 1862 the merchant banker Carl Joachim Hambro acquired Milton Abbey to make it his family home. He set about a major restoration programme, including an extensive refurbishment of the Abbey itself. The Hambro family developed and lived at Milton Abbey until 1939, when it was sold and for a while they relocated to Hedge End Farm nearby, followed by a permanent move to Dixton Manor in Gloucestershire.

The house is now the campus of an independent school. Milton Abbey School has 250 pupils, in six boarding houses called Athelstan, Bancks, Damer, Hambro, Middleton and Tregonwell. Age range from 13-18, with girls in 2005, accepted into the sixth form. Fees from about £21,000 a year. Pupils go onto a wide range of universities, and are acredited for their positive and friendly attitude. The school was used for exterior locations in the 1994 film The Browning Version starring Albert Finney, Matthew Modine and Greta Scacchi.It was also used for exterior and interior locations in 1980 in the British Broadcasting Production of To Serve Them All My Days staring John Duttine and Frank Middlemass. ^[1]