Abney Park - Abney House

Abney House

Abney Park was dominated by Abney House. For some time in the early decades of the 19th century, it was the residence of James William Freshfield and his family. In its final days it became a Wesleyan Methodist training college or seminary c.1838/9-1843, and was then 'recycled' (broken up for sale as building materials for the building trade of the rapidly expanding metropolis), as was common in the Victorian era. The governorship of the ministerial training establishment at Abney House was granted to the Rev. John Farrar, Secretary of the Methodist Conference on fourteen occasions and twice its elected President. When the Methodists moved into their first purpose-built college at Richmond, south of London, in 1843, he became the Classical Tutor and remained there until 1857.