Ashdown Village and the Old Stables

Over the years I've done a number of blog posts about Ashdown village, the old farmhouse and the stunning Victorian stables. (You can find the posts if you search on Ashdown village in the search box top left). The village is to the south of the white gates at the bottom of the drive and it's possible to do a circular walk from the house, down the drive, out of the picket gate, turn right past what is left of the village, and right again up the ha ha to Alfred's Castle where there is a footpath taking you back into the woods. It's a fantastic walk and there is so much history to see on it, but it's not publicized because I imagine the National Trust doesn't want hordes of people walking through the village. However with an OS map it's easy to follow the paths and although there isn't a guided walk, you can look out for the following landmarks along the way:

1. The white gates at the bottom of the south avenue are modelled on the original ones which can be seen in early paintings, such as the Kyp drawing of Ashdown House from 1708 and the series of paintings by Henry Seymour.

2. Opposite the gate at the bottom of the drive is a paddock where once there was a pond. This has dried out in the last century but it was once the place where the ice was cut to be stored in the ice house.

3. Immediately opposite and to the right of the paddock is the old stable yard which is now the National

Trust's site office. These are old barns and stables dating to the 18th century in some cases. The barn that borders the road has been restored and is absolutely beautiful (see picture above). Some of the old beams still remain. Behind the southernmost stables is the kennel where the hounds were housed for the Vine and Craven and the Old Berkshire Hunt when these were based at Ashdown. 

4. The biggest and most impressive building to the left of the road is the red brick Victorian stables, which were built in the mid 19th century in a gothic style. Look out for the little clock tower and the Earl's coronet and horse and carriage on the weather vane. The Craven initials and coronet are also on the rainwater heads on the downpipes. Very smart! I've had the pleasure of seeing inside the stables on a couple of occasions and whilst they are in dire need of renovation, you can see what a prestigious building it once was, with huge box stalls for the most valuable horses. The grooms lived on the floors above; the censuses from the 19th century give details of who they were. Look out for the magnificent chimneys as well.

5. The small set of stables to the right of the square is much older. They are the original early 18th century stables with a Flemish Bond pattern to the brick on the north side. Look out for the ghost sign on the wall that dates from when the stable block was used to store ammunition in the Second World War. "No Smoking." Good idea.

6. Beyond the stables there is the village green with the old farmhouse, incorporating an earlier medieval forester's cottage, a grain store standing on staddle stones (those ones that are shaped like mushrooms) and a laundry. It's probable that the green was originally a tenter ground where the washing from the house was dried in the open air.

7. Before you get to the end of the road, where you turn right to go up the ha ha path, there is a  paddock on the left with a huge wall in which you can still see the outline of a hearth. This was the heated kitchen-garden wall, where espaliered fruit trees would grow. There were also mushroom houses and vegetable beds to supply the house in the 19th century. In the field in front of the wall there was once the Ashdown House Chapel but no trace of this remains now.

8. There is a T junction and the road turns left, up towards what was the gamekeeper's cottage and the

choristers' lodge. This is private although you can continue walking straight up the path along the edge of the upper wood. This is the line of the medieval park pale and it takes you to the top of the hill and some spectacular views. In order to do the circular walk, though, you need to take the path that goes straight on at the gate and then bend to the right, keeping the house on your right as you go up the hill towards Alfred's Castle. Here you pass the ha ha at the end of the West Avenue. When the house was originally built, the west avenue stretched across the field as far as the coppice on the left. You will reach a gate that takes you into the hill fort and from there another that takes you back to the Ashdown House woods.

Enjoy the nature, the views and the history along the way!

New Light Through Old Windows

It's hard to believe that it's seven years since I wrote any new posts on this Ashdown House blog. In the meantime, I've written five new dual-time books, raised several more guide dog puppies and dealt with lots of difficult family issues. However, I'm still (just about!) working at Ashdown House and finally, after many years of good intentions, I am writing a non-fiction book about the history of the house. 

During those seven years, so many people have told me how much they enjoyed the blog and found it so useful in discovering more about the Craven family, Ashdown House itself and the local history associated with it. It's been amazing to get such wonderful feedback! Perhaps, at the time, I thought that I had discovered everything I could about Ashdown and didn't have anything left to write about. How wrong I was. In the intervening years, I've studied the Craven papers in the Bodleian Library in Oxford and made many more astonishing finds. I've been to museums and records offices around the country and will continue to do so for my research, and I've had the amazing experience of cataloguing some of the original and previously-unseen Craven papers. All of this I'd like to share here with you as I have a passion for Ashdown House (no surprises there!) and love to share all the history bits that the official site doesn't mention. This blog is not affiliated to the National Trust in any way - they are the people who own and run Ashdown and organize the tours of the property. But this is the place where the magic happens <G!>

There are a number of other places where you can find out more about the history of the Craven family

and their historic homes including The Craven Society Facebook Page and Elizabeth Craven and her World, a blog run by Dr Julia Gaspar. You may also be interested in the Jane Austen side of the family at Kintbury and Beyond. As we go along I'll be including recommended books and places to visit for those discerning tourists who like to see all the famous sites but head off the beaten track as well for something different. And if you are a genealogist interested in Craven family history, please do get in touch as well.

I hope you will rejoin me in stepping into Ashdown's story once again for new light through old windows!