A MAN who was well known for his businesses and award-winning restoration of a historic abbey has died.

Christopher Foyle has died aged 79 after a battle with cancer.

Christopher and his wife Catherine completed the award-winning restoration of the historic family home of Beeleigh Abbey.

The abbey dated back to the 12th Century and previously belonged to his aunt Christina.

Although Christopher didn’t inherit the Abbey from his aunt, as she left it to the Foyle Foundation, a charity for learning, education and art.

Maldon and Burnham Standard:

Christopher bought the estate at market value from the charity trustees.

He was a Deputy Lord Lieutenant in Essex and the recipient of an OBE for services to publishing, aviation and charity.

He achieved commercial success in both bookselling and aviation.

He was well known for being the chairman of Foyles bookshop from 1999 and he built an air cargo business that was known for its use of giant Russian aircraft.

Foyles bookshop is in Chelmsford, London and more around the UK.

He took over Foyles after the death of his aunt and turned the business around to be profitable.

He opened multiple outlets before he sold the company to the Waterstones chain in 2018.

Foyles was originally founded by Christophers grandfather William and great-uncle Gilbert in 1903.

By 1935 the bookshop stocked five million books.

Close friend of Christopher and Catherine, Leo McKinstry, said: “He was a distinguished entrepreneur and philanthropist, with an eclectic range of interests that reflected his lively, inquiring mind.

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“His instinct for hard work was accompanied by gregarious, humorous, generous nature and an openness to maverick ideas.

“Fascinated by UFOs and alternative archaeology, he funded a number of geographic expeditions, including a search for the Yeti in the Borneo jungle.

“The manner of his passing mirrored his character, positive to the last. Having contracted a rare form of cancer, he fought heroically for years against the illness, never complaining, never far from laughter.

“Even in his final days, at a hospital in London, he maintained his stoicism without a moment of self-pity. He is survived by Catherine, their three daughters and a son from a previous relationship.”