Editing Lacock Abbey (section)

==Architecture==

[[File:Latticed window at lacock abbey 1835.jpg|thumb|upright|A latticed window in Lacock Abbey, photographed by [[William Fox Talbot]] in 1835. Shown here in positive form, this may be the oldest extant photographic negative made in a camera.]]When Sir William Sharington purchased the remains of the Augustinian nunnery in 1540, after the dissolution, he built a country house on the cloister court. He retained the [[cloister]]s and the [[Middle Ages|medieval]] basement largely unaltered and built another storey above, so that the main rooms are on the first floor. The house is constructed of [[ashlar]] and rubble stone, the roofs are of stone slates and there are many twisted, sixteenth century chimney stacks.<ref name=BLB>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-315553-lacock-abbey-with-stable-yard-lacock-#.V7s1kTXGD6g |title=Lacock Abbey |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=22 August 2016}}</ref> The house is a blend of different styles but lacks a cohesive plan; the four wings of the house are built above the cloister passages, but the house cannot be entered from the cloisters, and the cloisters cannot be seen from inside the house.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ronnes, Hanneke |title=Architecture and Elite Culture in the United Provinces, England and Ireland, 1500-1700 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xn24enePQeoC&pg=PA79 |year=2006 |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |isbn=978-90-8555-361-8 |pages=79–80}}</ref> The abbey underwent substantial alterations in the [[Gothic Revival architecture|Gothic Revival]] style in the 1750s, under the ownership of [[John Ivory Talbot]]. The [[great hall]] was redesigned during this period by [[Sanderson Miller]].<ref>{{ODNBweb|id=37767|title=Miller, Sanderson|first=Peter|last=Leach}}</ref>

The basement consists of an arcade of cloisters on three sides, surrounding several vaulted rooms including the [[sacristy]], [[chapter house]], and [[Calefactory|warming house]]. These rooms were situated under the original [[dormitory]]. At the other end of the building, below what was formerly the [[abbess]]' chambers and the great hall, are two rooms and the main passage. On the north side, underneath the original [[refectory]], is the [[undercroft]].<ref name=BLB/>

The west front has two flights of broad, [[Baluster|balustraded]] steps leading up to the central door. Inside is a full-height hall with a part-hipped valley roof. On either side of this are octagonal turrets with [[cupola]]s and delicately pierced [[parapet]]s. To the left of the hall is the former medieval kitchen with a balustraded parapet and [[buttress]]es. To the right is a range of parapetted rooms with a stepped buttress at the corner. The south front was plain, being the inside north wall of the original abbey church which was pulled down, but was rebuilt by William Talbot in 1828 to include bay windows. At this end of the building is Sharington's tower, an octagonal, three-storey tower, topped with a [[Belvedere (structure)|belvedere]], balustrade, and stair turret.<ref name=BLB/>

[[File:Lacock Abbey east front.jpg|thumb|The east front of Lacock Abbey]]
The east front looks more medieval than the other sides but probably dates from about 1900, however the south end cross-wing appears to be mostly sixteenth century. To the north of the house stands the well-preserved sixteenth century stable courtyard. This has timbered gabled [[dormer]] windows and a tall clock-tower at the west side of its north range. These buildings have [[mullion]] windows, and [[Tudor period|Tudor]] arched-doorways.<ref name=BLB/> Also beside the courtyard are the [[Brewery|brew house]], one of the oldest in Britain, and the [[Bakery|bakehouse]].<ref name=NatTrust>{{cite web|url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/lacock-abbey-fox-talbot-museum-and-village/features/discover-800-years-of-history-at-lacock-abbey |publisher=National Trust|title=800 years of history at Lacock Abbey |access-date=23 August 2016}}</ref> The two lodges are seventeenth century and the carriage-houses are eighteenth century.<ref name=BLB/>