Conversion of buildings

NOTES; The Building Centre, founded in 1931, moved to these premises in 1952, which for long had been used as motor car showroom, garage and workshops.

NOTES; The Building Centre, founded in 1931, moved to these premises in 1952, which for long had been used as motor car showroom, garage and workshops.

NOTES: The Church of the Holy Wisdom, known as Hagia Sophia in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin, and Ayasofya or Aya Sofya in Turkish, was a Byzantine church until 1453 when Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror made it his imperial mosque. In 1934 the mosque was secularized and turned into the Ayasofya Museum.

NOTES: This mews house was converted from two stables.

NOTES: This building houses the Fortuny Museum.

NOTES: A Cistercian monastery was built at the Manor of Thorncombe in c.1148. Rebuilding of the monastery was begun by Abbot Chard, the last Abbot, in 1521 but was interrupted by the Dissolution. In 1539, the Abbot handed the abbey over to the Crown and it was subsequently leased to a succession of private landlords for the next hundred years. In 1649 it was purchased by Edmund Prideaux, Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis and Oliver Cromwell's Solicitor General, who was largely responsible for transforming Forde Abbey from a Monastic residence into a private home. Some of the remodelling of the house has been attributed to designs by Inigo Jones, but executed after his death.

NOTES: A Cistercian monastery was built at the Manor of Thorncombe in c.1148. Rebuilding of the monastery was begun by Abbot Chard, the last Abbot, in 1521 but was interrupted by the Dissolution. In 1539, the Abbot handed the abbey over to the Crown and it was subsequently leased to a succession of private landlords for the next hundred years. In 1649 it was purchased by Edmund Prideaux, Member of Parliament for Lyme Regis and Oliver Cromwell's Solicitor General, who was largely responsible for transforming Forde Abbey from a Monastic residence into a private home. The cloisters form part of Abbot Chard's renovations of 1520.

NOTES: This abbey for Augustinian canonesses was founded in the early 13th century by Ela, Countess of Salisbury. It was dissolved in 1539 and sold to Sir William Sharrington who converted it into a family home.The three battlemented odd-sized oriel windows and tower were added in c. 1828 when the abbey was owned by William Henry Fox Talbot, the photographic pioneer.

NOTES: This gatehouse was the only part of the Benedictine monastery buildings (besides the church, which became St Albans Cathedral in 1877) to survive the dissolution in 1539. It was later used as a prison and latterly forms part of St Albans School.

NOTES: This building houses the Fortuny Museum.

NOTES: The building was converted into a hotel in 2007.

NOTES: The building houses a tourist information office.