Shrewsbury, Shropshire - Abbey Church - Valentines postcard, local pmk 1911

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre, [Bisham, Berks just across river from Marlow, Bucks] - from air
• Publisher: Bisham Abbey Sports & Conferences, Bisham
• Postally used: no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Historic buildings

Main article: Bisham Abbey

The National Sports Centre at Bisham is centred on Bisham Abbey, a 13th-century manor house, originally built for the Knights Templar but later the residence of the Montagu (or Montacute) Earls of Salisbury and the Hoby family.

Bisham Abbey is a Grade I listed manor house at Bisham in the English county of Berkshire. The name is taken from the now lost monastery which once stood alongside. This original Bisham Abbey was previously named Bisham Priory, and was the traditional resting place of many Earls of Salisbury. The complex surrounding the extant manorial buildings is now one of three National Sports Centres run on behalf of Sport England and is used as a residential training camp base for athletes and teams and community groups alike. It is a wedding venue with a licence for civil ceremony and is used for conferences, team building events, corporate parties and private functions.

The manor house was built around 1260 as a community house for two Knights Templar. There was substantial rebuilding and alteration in later centuries.[1] When the Templars were suppressed in 1307, King Edward II took over the manorial rights, granting them to various relatives. In 1310 the building was used as a place of confinement for Queen Elizabeth of the Scots, wife of King Robert the Bruce, along with her stepdaughter Princess Marjorie and sister–in–law, Lady Christine of Carrick. They had been captured on the Isle of Rathlin during the Scottish Wars of Succession, and were placed in the charge of the King's Yeoman, John Bentley, for two years, until removed to Windsor.

In 1335 the manor was bought by William Montacute, 1st Earl of Salisbury and in 1337 he founded Bisham Priory alongside, within the year of his death 1344, he was buried in the abbey.

Henry VIII granted the manor house to Anne of Cleves as part of her divorce settlement from him, and it was later bought by the Hoby family, who lived there until 1768. Elizabeth I was a regular visitor in the time of the Hoby family.

The manor house is now run by Serco Leisure Operating Ltd on behalf of Sport England, and is one of three National Sports Centres. Gym membership is open to the public.

The facilities include:-

A £1.2 million international water based hockey pitch

An indoor tennis centre featuring four tennis courts

Four outdoor "French Court" clay tennis courts and four floodlit outdoor acrylic tennis courts

A fully equipped elite strength and conditioning facility

Sauna and steam room

A large community gym with cardio and free weights and full fitness class timetable

Two squash courts

A remodelled nine-hole par three golf course

A sports therapy performance centre which enables elite level sports science and medicine services to be provided on site

England Rugby had their training base at Bisham Abbey until 2005, when they moved to the University of Bath. Several football teams have trained at Bisham Abbey, most recently Barcelona and Portsmouth before their 2008 FA Cup victory. For the last few years Non-League Marlow United F.C. use the pitches as their home ground. The facilities are frequently used by elite athletes and community groups for residential training camps such as the Rugby Sevens and England Hockey. There is an International High performance Tennis centre based on site managed by WIN Tennis. Some professional rugby players use the gym facilities. In February 2006 the England futsal team played two international friendlies against Finland at Bisham Abbey. Due to their regular training ground (Beversbrook) being out of use due to the weather Swindon Town F.C. have been using the centre (as of February 2020) while they attempt to find a more permanent facility. [3]