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A Passion for History
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A Place Steeped in History"One of the most romantic and unusual of all English country houses..." Pevsner
Ashdown is one of the hidden treasures of the National Trust. A Restoration hunting lodge built by William, 1st Earl of Craven, it nestles in its deer park on the Berkshire Downs above the village of Ashbury, and still has the same isolated and untouched air that it must have had when it was built in the seventeenth century. Ashdown was a
house said to have been built for
the love of a woman who never
lived to see it.
It was intended for Elizabeth of Bohemia, the Winter
Queen, sister of Charles I, whom Lord Craven had served
with an unswerving devotion. Sadly, Elizabeth died
shortly before Ashdown was completed, but the house
remained in the Craven family
The story of Ashdown House and the surrounding countryside is a fascinating one, rich in history. If you would like to know more, come on the tour:
Ashdown is open from April to
October, on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons.
If you cannot make the tour but would like to know more of the history of Ashdown and the Craven family, visit Ashdown on the Web, the unofficial website dedicated to the house and grounds. There is also the Ashdown Blog where visitors and history enthusiasts can meet and chat. If you have a personal connection with Ashdown and have some information on the house or the estate, please drop me a line! I am researching the history of Ashdown in order to write a book about it so I would be delighted to hear from anyone with an Ashdown connection!
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I
am fortunate enough to work for the National Trust as a guide at Ashdown
Park. The house and its surrounding woodland
served as the inspiration for Delaval in
my book,
until 1956, when it was
given to the National Trust.