The hotel in the Victorian mansion at Wroxall Abbey reopened to guests this May for the first time under its new management.

The new owners are eager to retain the history of the venue, having opened the new 'Wren Bar' and recommissioned the church.

Inspired by their enthusiasm for local history, we have taken a look back at the story behind the current mansion house and the abbey that once stood there.

Religious Roots

A Benedictine nunnery was founded at Wroxall, with nearly 3,000 acres of land, by Hugh fitz Richard of Hatton in the middle of the 12th century. The priory stood in place until 1536 when it was dissolved during Henry VIII's monastic dissolution.

A church, dedicated to St Leonard, was built on site in around 1315 and remains standing to this day. The church was originally part of the priory itself, but is the only element that remains standing.

In recent history it was made into a cathedral of the Free Methodist Church but has been returned to the Church of England under the new owners.

The land which the abbey stood on was sold in 1544 to Robert Burgoyne, a commissioner of Henry VIII in Warwickshire.

However, it was his son (imaginatively also named Robert) who would first take residence at the site, as he demolished part of the monastery, and began to build the first manor house in 1597.

Now only the ruins of two small rooms of the priory are left.

In 1636 Robert Burgoyne II's grandson John was created a baronet, and his son Sir Roger fought for the crown during the England Civil War at the end of the 17th century.

From House to Hotel

The abbey would remain in the hands of the Burgoyne's until 1713 when it and 1,850 acres of land were sold to Sir Christopher Wren for £19,600.

The house was then passed down through four further Wren sons - all of whom were called Christopher.

Christopher Roberts Wren inherited the house in 1797, although he was living in India at the time. When he returned to Warwickshire in 1812 he spent the next 16 years completely renovating the site.

However it wasn't until the house passed into the hands of James Dugdale in 1861 that serious changes were made.

A banker and mill owner, Dugdale completely changed the face of the site. In 1866 the original manor house was knocked down, and the current mansion house was built. New formal gardens and pleasure grounds were also built.

The mansion house now boasts 48 bedrooms for guests whilst the original manor house in now underneath the hotel's tennis courts.

By 1936 the house was no longer being occupied and the then owner Lt Commander James G G Dugdale leased the house to The Laurels School, later to be known as Wroxall Abbey School. The building was then sold to the school in 1963.

The school closed in 1996 and by 1998 planning permission had been given to new owners the Quinn family for the building to become a hotel.

Current owners Trinity Hotel Ltd took over the estate in late 2020.