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Summary - not yet available

Monument Types

• COUNTRY HOUSE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Events

• Evaluation of land SW of Ashridge House, Berkhamsted (Ref: ASC/M/ALG99/3)

Protected Status

• Listed Building 1/
• Registered Park or Garden 24
• Area of Archaeological Significance 28

Full description

Country house, now Management College. Built 1808-1820 by James Wyatt and his nephew for 7th Earl of Bridgewater. Incorporates remains of college of Bonhommes founded 1283 [4148] which became a royal residence after dissolution in 1539 until sold by Elizabeth in 1575. The present house is one of the finest surviving examples of an early Gothic revival mansion <1, 2>. It was used as a hospital during the First World War <3>.
The estate was bought by Thomas Egerton, Elizabeth's Lord Chancellor in 1604, after the Queen's death <4>. Egerton added a domestic wing at each end of the Great Hall, probably of local flint. His son, John Egerton, purchased an earldom in 1617, assuming the title Bridgewater.
The 6th Earl, and 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (the 'Canal Duke') made a fortune developing waterways for industrial transport. He owned the estate between 1747 and his death in 1803, and in 1759 employed Lancelot 'Capability' Brown to work on the house and part of the gardens, and also the landscaping of the Golden Valley and work to the north and east of the house. The 3rd Duke began the demolition of most of the medieval monastic buildings just before his death in 1803, and his heir, the 7th Earl, created the present Ashridge. Building started in 1808, to a design by James Wyatt, and following his death in 1813, it was completed by his son Benjamin and nephew (Sir) Jeffry Wyatville. Considerable works were carried out on the gardens and pleasure grounds, to designs by Humphrey Repton ('Red Book for Ashridge' (1813)). Though his plans were modified in some areas by Jeffry Wyatville, the gardens to the south of the house are largely as envisaged by Repton.
Following a complicated series of succession to the estate, it was inherited by a minor, the 2nd Earl Brownlow, in 1851. His mother Lady Marian Alford administered the estate and was responsible for much of the present day appearance of Ashridge and the village of Little Gaddesden. She extended the gardens, and the principal rooms of the house were enhanced by Matthew Digby Wyatt. In 1857-8, the Ashridge Water Company was formed to bring water to Ashridge and to some estate villages at a cost of £15,000 (see [5656]), and the medieval well under the chapel [5664] was superseded. The 2nd Earl was succeeded (in 1867) by his brother, who further developed the estate.
In the early 20th century Ashridge park was made available as a training area for the Territorial Army, and in the First World War the house was used as a convalescent home. The estate was sold in 1921, and after a campaign, funds were raised to enable the National Trust to purchase the park. The buildings and gardens were bought and gifted to the Conservative party and used as a training centre for party workers. In the Second World War the building became a branch of the Charing Cross hospital, and concrete wards were built in the parkland north of the house, providing 1200 beds. The wards remained until 1983. After WWII, financial problems eventually led to the formation of the management college, which began courses in 1959. Iit is now Ashridge Business School. Several buildings have been adapted and a new campus built to the west of the mansion, behind woodland.

Sources and further reading

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