There is an abbey, Launde, in the heart of England. The air is always sweet there and it's quiet. A little heaven here on earth. And I think to myself: "I'll live here one day, when all my work is done."
These were Thomas Cromwell's last words in the wonderful Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light yesterday evening.
Launde is a real place and still much as Cromwell described it - a green bowl in the hills of High Leicestershire.
Today Launde Abbey is a Church of England retreat house. Its website sets out the site's history:
Launde Abbey was founded as an Augustinian priory in 1119 by Richard Basset, a royal official of Henry I. During the first century of its life the community buildings, cloister and garth were built, including an imposing church of which one side chapel still survives, now used as the Chapel at the present-day Abbey.
Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief minister responsible for the dissolution of the monasteries, found Launde’s location very desirable. After visiting the priory in April 1540 he wrote in his Remembrances (a kind of personal journal) "Myself for Launde," although he never occupied the house as he was executed just three months later for treason.
His son Gregory, however, had kept royal favour – no doubt helped by his marriage to Elizabeth Seymour, sister to Henry VIII’s beloved wife Jane – and lived at Launde Abbey with Elizabeth for ten years; during this time he had some of the dilapidated monastic buildings restored or rebuilt. Gregory was buried at Launde and a monument erected by his wife remains in the Chapel to this day.
I took these photos at some sort of open day back in 2008. I understand the buildings at Launde have been fully restored since then and the site is looking far more prosperous. You can find a photograph of the interior of the chapel, including the monument to Gregory Cromwell, on the Launde Abbey website.
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