Turvey, Abbey From The Gardens 1897
Photo ref: 39973
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Photo ref: 39973
Photo of Turvey, Abbey From The Gardens 1897

More about this scene

At the time of the photograph the building was known as Abbey Farm; it had been the home of the Higgins family since 1786. At the end of the 18th century, much of the village was in disrepair because the previous owners, the Mordaunt family, were unable to afford the upkeep towards the end of their tenure. Cousins Charles and John Higgins rebuilt much of Turvey in the style we see today.

A Selection of Memories from Turvey

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our website to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was, prompted by the photographs in our archive. Here are some from Turvey

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If this has sparked a memory, why not share it here?

Turvey Abbey was owned in those days by Rupert Allen who owned an engineering factory in Bedford. My father was employed on the estate as gardener/general factotum (and was paid a pittance for the privilege). The Abbey had a few cows, pigs, geese and chickens. It was often my job to go out at dusk to shut up the chickens to stop the foxes getting them. I remember it was quite spooky as it got dark (I ...see more
I remember fishing for endless hours just about the spot shown in the photograph. There were many perch there and on one occasion I caught a fair sized pike. Just upstream from this location was a sort of peninsular accessed by climbing down steps set in the wall of Turvey Bridge. This was called Sam's Island for some reason. Brings back many happy memories of over half a century ago!!