Ashdown House, Oxfordshire facts for kids
Ashdown House (also called Ashdown Park) is a grand country house built in the 1600s. It is located in Ashbury, a small area in Oxfordshire, England. Before 1974, the house was part of Berkshire county. The nearby village of Lambourn is still in Berkshire today.
Ashdown House is a very important historical building. It is listed as a Grade I building, which means it has special historical or architectural value. Its gardens are also important, listed at Grade II* in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
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The Story of Ashdown House
Ashdown House has a cool connection to a royal figure known as the "Winter Queen," Elizabeth of Bohemia. She was the older sister of King Charles I. People say that William, the first Earl of Craven, built Ashdown House for her. However, Elizabeth passed away in 1662, before the house was even started.
Who Built Ashdown House?
We are not completely sure who designed Ashdown House. But many believe that William Craven hired Captain William Winde to build it. The house was designed in a Dutch style. It was meant to be a hunting lodge, a place for hunters to stay. It also served as a safe place during the Plague, a serious illness that spread a long time ago. The building was also a great spot to watch hunts happening in the park.
What's Inside and Around the House?
Ashdown House is quite large, with about 8,000 square feet of living space. It has a big main staircase, several reception rooms, and connecting drawing and sitting rooms. There's also a kitchen, a dining room, and eight bedrooms. The property includes two smaller buildings called lodges, three cottages, and about 100 acres of land.
The house was first built where four hunting paths met in Craven's park. These paths don't look the same today, but parts of them are still there. Ashdown House is quite isolated, meaning it's far from other buildings. From the roof, you can see beautiful park-like grounds, gardens, woods, and fields. Close by, you can find a group of large sarsen stones. There's also Alfred's Castle, an ancient Iron Age hillfort.
Ashdown's Ancient Woods
Some of the woods around Ashdown Park are even older than the house itself. Long ago, Glastonbury Abbey owned the land of Ashbury until 1539. They created a deer park in the southern part of the area. This park was surrounded by an old dirt wall, which is typical of deer parks from the Middle Ages. This wall likely had a fence of wooden stakes on top. This old deer park is now called the Upper Wood of Ashdown Park. Today, Ashdown Park is a special area known as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Recent History and Public Access
Ashdown House stayed mostly the same for many years. However, during World War II, the army used the house. After the war, it was left in a very bad condition. In 1956, Cornelia, Countess of Craven, gave Ashdown House to the National Trust. The National Trust is an organization that protects historic places. Since then, people who rent the house have worked to fix it up.
In 2010, Pete Townshend, a famous musician, rented the property for 41 years. He started a major renovation in 2011. Today, visitors can go up the stairs and onto the roof to enjoy wide views of the Berkshire Downs. You can also explore the nearby Ashdown Woods. If you want to visit the house, you can take a guided tour on Wednesdays and Saturdays from April to October.
See also
- Battle of Ashdown
- Museum of Oxford
- List of National Trust properties in England
