Scheduled Monument: Leicester Abbey, 17c Mansion and Ornamental Gardens
The Scheduled Monument in Abbey Park comprises the Abbey Ruins, Abbot Penny's Wall, the remains of a 17c Mansion (Cavendish House) and Ornamental Gardens. The Monument was scheduled on 18th July 1995, and is not located within a Conservation Area. Reference Number: SM17131.
This scheduled monument lies in the northwest corner of Abbey Park, between St Margaret’s Way and the River Soar. From 1143 until 1538 this area was the site of a large and prosperous abbey. The most obvious evidence for this important monastery are the foundations of the abbey church, the cloisters and some of the other ranges that can be seen set out in the grass close to the river.
It is less obvious that the abbey lay within a large precinct that would have contained not only the buildings the foundations of which are set-out in the grass, but also a host of other buildings and features. This precinct would have been enclosed by a wall. Although there are no visible traces of the other buildings and features, the present walls that run along three sides of this part of Abbey Park incorporates large portions of the fabric of the precinct walls.
Following the Dissolution the abbey the site came into private hands, and a mansion was built to the west of the main abbey buildings. This house came into the possession of William Cavendish, first Earl of Devonshire in 1613, but was destroyed in 1645, during the Civil War sieges of Leicester. The mansion in Leicester was never rebuilt, and it the ruins of this house that stand in the park today and which are known as Cavendish House.
