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!