mottisfont house library

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During the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII, the priory was dissolved and in 1536 the king gave Mottisfont to a favoured statesman, Sir William Sandys died 1540, who turned it into a country home but, rather unusually, chose not to demolish the existing priory. Sandys instead turned the church nave into the main body of the new mansion, building additional wings on either side. Sections of the original medieval church may still be seen, with the later additions built around them.