IT is sad that the ambitious project to restore Beeleigh Abbey near Maldon, Essex, undertaken by Christopher and Catherine Foyle from 2005, has come to an end, but what an achievement it was! I remember the state of the place during the long chatelaine-ship of Christopher’s aunt, Christina Foyle: it was fusty and feculent (as her nephew might have noted), even when she was hosting one of her lunches.
He bought the Abbey from his aunt’s executors, together with about 40% of the library collected by his grandfather, William, the founder of the eponymous bookshop. The residue, including Shakespeare Folios and many medieval
