We are at the letter "F" in the A - Z of Ashdown and today I am blogging about Ashdown Park farmhouse, which is situated in Ashdown village, on the green. There are records that state that the farmhouse originally had a date stone over the
door with the date inscription of 1617. I'm not sure whether the blank stone that is there now is new or whether the inscription was destroyed. Either way it is a pity that the original carving no longer remains.
I used to assume that date stones such
as these marked the year of building but apparently that is not always the
case. At Ashbury Upper Mill, for example, there is a date stone in the wall
from 1792, which was not the year of build but marked the year when the
building underwent major restoration. If the same is true of Ashdown Park
farmhouse this makes sense of the suggestion that the building has an earlier,
medieval core. The Ashbury estate came into the Craven family in 1625 so the
renovation of the farm earlier in the century took place when the estate still
belonged to the Essex family.
A lot of additional work was done to the farmhouse in the 18th
century when it was extended. Many of the features, including the windows, are
late 18th century. I think it's a beautiful building in a lovely position on the village green.
