WILLIAM FOYLE (1885−1963), co-founder of Foyles, the celebrated bookshop on Charing Cross Road in London, enjoyed sailing on the tidal rivers of Essex. One day, in the early 1940s, messing about in a boat on the Chelmer, he is supposed to have happened upon Beeleigh Abbey. Immediately captivated, Foyle was determined to live there, regardless of his wife’s initial despair. He approached the owner, Richard Thomas, who agreed to sell him the estate in 1943. Foyles still live at the abbey today.
Of course, for the origins of Beeleigh as a secular residence, we must look back much further, all the way to the 16th century. In 1536, as the suppression of the medieval abbey (the subject of last week’s article) began to look inevitable, Beeleigh was soon recognised as a potential asset. The hereditary founder, Henry Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Essex, was quick to show his hand. He was prepared to pay the Crown 1,000 marks (£666) for a grant of the site, promising that ‘it shall never be used as a religious house again’.
In spite of his family ties to Beeleigh,
