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A Place Steeped in History

"One of the most romantic and unusual of all English country houses..." Pevsner

I am fortunate enough to work for the National Trust as a guide and historian at Ashdown Park.

 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 until 1956, when it was given to the National Trust.

The story of Ashdown House and the surrounding countryside is a fascinating one, rich in history. If you would like to know more, come and visit!

Ashdown is open from April to October, on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, 2 - 5pm.

If you cannot make the tour but would like to know more of the history of Ashdown and the Craven family, visit the Ashdown House Blog, an informal website that gives you all the low down on the history that isn't in the guidebook!

 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!