 I BELIEVE this private house, which is both beautiful and curious in equal measures, was once part of the Medmenham Abbey folly. It can be glimpsed from a distance as you walk from Henley downstream on the Berkshire bank or from a boat as you glide past towards Hurley. The area is most peaceful — unlike the other place that is often linked with the Hell Fire Club, bustling Wycombe. The club was started in the grounds of the old Medmenham Abbey in the 18th century by Sir Francis Dashwood. He needed seclusion for himself and his friends, sometimes referred to as The Medmenham Monks, for their wild parties and mock religious ceremonies. The gardens, which had been established by Cistercian monks in 1145, were made into a sensory grove with erotic carvings, paintings and inscriptions and it is rumoured that Lord Sandwich, Benjamin Franklin and Lady Montague were among the members of this secret society. Perhaps word got out because Dashwood had the West Wycombe caves dug and then moved most of the activities literally underground.
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