The history of the house dates back to 1145 when Hugh de Bolebec founded a religious house for a group of Cistercian monks, with the monastic buildings following the usual Cistercian pattern. Thus, the north wing is on the site of the monastic church and the present courtyard is on the site of the great cloister and garth. In 1538 the Abbot, Robert Hobbes, was found guilty of treason and the monastery confiscated. Legend states that he was hanged from an oak tree at the Abbey's gate.
Edward VI granted Woburn Abbey to Sir John Russell in 1547, though it did not become a family home until 1619. In 1747, the Fourth Duke commissioned Henry Flitcroft to rebuild the west range, including the grand series of staterooms. In 1802, under instruction from the 6th Duke, Humphry Repton was asked to landscape the park as it appears today and his original sketches and plans are still kept at Woburn .
Although not all of Repton’s plans were realised, certainly the present route from Woburn village to the Abbey is exactly as he planned. Repton listed eight rules to be observed in making the approach, the two most important being that it should be the shortest route and pass through the most picturesque parts of the park.