The World-Renowned Collections

Touring the Abbey covers three floors, including the vaults, with 18th Century French and English furniture, silver and gold collections and a wide range of porcelain on display. In particular the Abbey is celebrated for housing one of the most important private art collections in the world, including paintings by Cuyp, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Van Dyck and Canaletto.

Use our free house tour booklets, children’s quizzes or purchase the official 2009 guidebook or audio tour to ensure you will make the most of the experience.

The Blue Drawing Room - The Home of Afternoon Tea

This very English tradition is said to have originated around 1840 by Duchess Anna Maria, wife of the 7th Duke who entertained her friends in the Blue Drawing Room. She had found the time between luncheon and dinner too long, so a light tea was served mid-afternoon. A delicious Afternoon Tea can be enjoyed as part of your visit at the Duchess' Tea Room or at The Inn at Woburn (the Duchess Anna Maria Afternoon Tea must be prebooked).

21 views of Venice by Canaletto (1697 - 1768) in the Dining Room

The 4th Duke of Bedford visited Venice while on the Grand Tour in 1731. These paintings were subsequently commissioned and remind us of the fascination of this beautiful city for the traveller. One of the family’s favourites is 'The Entrance to the Aresenal', where the great fleets of the Republic were built. This view has been virtually unaltered since the 18th century.

The Armada Portrait in the Long Gallery

The portrait of Elizabeth I was painted by George Gower in 1588. A legendary symbolic painting, it commemorates the victorious sea battle against the Spanish Armada and portrays the Tudor Queen as Empress of the world and commander of the seas.

The Crypt Porcelain Display and the Silver and Gold Vaults

Amongst the highlights on display is a celebrated selection of porcelain from the Sevres dinner service presented to the wife of the 4th Duke by King Louis XV; in appreciation of his role in negotiating the Treaty of Paris in 1763. A selection of some of the family silver and gold includes the 4th Duke’s wedding present to his second wife Gertrude, commissioned from Paul de Lamerie, one of the finest Huguenot silversmiths.

The Grottoes

The Grotto (built between 1619 and 1641) was designed as a loggia where the family could sit and breathe in the fresh, clean Bedfordshire air. Decorated with a maritime theme, the stone is carved to resemble seaweed, stalactites and dolphins and the walls and ceilings are inlaid with ormer shells. Fashionable in the 19th Century, a 'ruined' grotto was built outside in the gardens for the 6th Duke near the Chinese Dairy.

New for 2009 - Sladmore Gallery exhibition within the Abbey Gardens

The present Duke of Bedford, an avid collector of contemporary art, will in 2009 open up the gardens of Woburn Abbey to hold an inaugural exhibition of monumental sculpture. The aim of the Sladmore Gallery exhibition is to provide a comprehensive overview of the best works being created by Sculptors working on a large scale in England today. The works wlil be shown throughout the gardens and will delight and entertain.

Annual Exhibitions - 'Dear Sister Mary' and Woburn at War

'Dear Sister Mary' concentrates on Woburn Abbey's military hospitals, which received wounded soldiers throughout WWI and the devoted care of Mary, wife of the 11th Duke who organised and ran these hospitals, herself a qualified theatre sister and radiographer. Includes official documents from the hospitals and touching letters, cards and photographs from the recovered soldiers; some humorous, others illustrate the tragedy of war as they returned to France only to be killed in the trenches.

The Woburn at War exhibition illustrates the impact of wars on Woburn Abbey, from the English civil War to the Second World War, and how these dramatic events changed the lives of the people who lived here.

Please see our Events Calendar to find out more.

Woburn Abbey Deer Park

The deer park is home to ten species of deer, the Red Deer and Fallow Deer which are native to Britain and eight other species which originally came from Asia. The largest herd of Pere David Deer in the UK can be seen here. Originally from China, this species was saved from extinction at Woburn in the 1880s by the 11th Duke of Bedford. In 1985 22 deer were reintroduced back to their native land.

2009 Season of Events

From magical performances of theatre in the gardens and live music, Woburn Abbey provides a magnificent backdrop to events throughout the year. Please see our Events Calendar to find out more.