The Cavendish family remained owners of the estate, which by then included a large area to east of the River Soar, until they sold it in 1733. As the house was no longer in use as a residence the Abbey precinct was given over to agriculture, horticulture and orchards, whilst the ruins of Cavendish House were left to decay. The progress of this decay can be traced through a series of engravings and sketches made in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
By the nineteenth century the Abbey was owned by the Earls of Dysart. In 1876 the 8th Earl sold the land to the east of the river, then known as Abbey Meadows, to the Town Council in order to facilitate a flood relief scheme. The Town Council then set about turning the area between the River and the canal into a public open space complete with a bandstand, a boating lake and curving walks. Abbey Park as it was named was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1882. The site of the Abbey, however, was still a market garden.
