N For North

In the A - Z of Ashdown we are now at N. N is for the North Avenue, a mile long ride that cuts through both Hailey and Middle Woods and ends in a haha by an ancient holloway. The current design of the woods, with its avenues of trees,  rides and glades, was created in the 18th century. At that time picturesque little lodge buildings, now lost, were built halfway along the North Avenue to frame the view.

When the house was originally built the hunting forest was more thickly wooded and the rides were not as formalised. You can see a stylised version of what it looked like in this engraving by Kyp from the early 18th century. The North Avenue contains an ancient badger sett, at least 700 years old, and along the western edge of the wood are two oak trees dating from the 17th century.

The medieval hunting lodge

We've reached M in the A - Z of Ashdown. M is for the medieval hunting lodge that stood on the site long before the current house was built.

The pre-Restoration history of Ashdown Park is fascinating. The name Ashdown is an ancient one. It is first mentioned in a chronicle of 777AD when King Offa of Mercia advanced as far west as the nearby village of Ashbury in his battles against the West Saxons. It is, as previously mentioned, also a strong contender for the site of King Alfred’s Battle of Ashdown of 871AD when he defeated the Vikings. 

In 953AD the manor of Ashbury including the lands that were then known as Aysshen Park came into the possession of Glastonbury Abbey.  They remained part of the Abbey’s lands until the Dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII in 1539. We know that there was a house built for the Abbot in Ashbury as early as the 13^th century and that Ashbury Manor was built in 1488 as a guesthouse for travellers and pilgrims from Glastonbury to Canterbury. At the same time, Ashdown Park was being developed as a hunting ground for the abbey. The King granted the abbot a licence of free warren at Ashbury in 1330 and also a licence to hunt which meant that he could both breed and hunt game on the site.

Documentary evidence tells us that by 1204, Ashdown Upper Wood was surrounded by a park pale, a high ditch and bank to keep the deer inside. You can still see the remains of the park pale in the fields to this day. Inside medieval deer parks there were areas of woodland, spinneys and lawns or grassy clearings, very similar in fact to the way that Upper Wood still looks today.

There was also a hunting lodge. We don’t know what it would have looked like. Most medieval hunting

lodges of this sort are lost to us now; either they fell into ruin or they became part of larger buildings. This picture is of a 14^th century hunting lodge in East Anglia that belonged to an abbey so it gives us an idea of what the Ashdown hunting lodge might have looked like. It would have been a substantial building that demonstrated the wealth and social standing of its owner – exactly like the current Ashdown House. Ashdown Park would have been a target for armed poachers so the lodge would need to be defensible. It would also have provided accommodation for the abbot’s gamekeeper and also possibly for hunting parties.

One final question remains. Where was the Ashdown hunting lodge located? Hunting lodges were often on the highest part of the hunting ground, which would have put it at the top of Upper Wood. However, English Heritage records suggest that there was an earlier building on the site of the current Ashdown House, which is another alternative. The farmhouse in Ashdown village, which dates from 1617, also incorporates a medieval core so that is a third possibility. It is another Ashdown mystery. 

Ashdown in a Golden Light!

We liked this photograph of Ashdown so much we wanted to share it on the blog. It was taken yesterday evening along the North Avenue.

An Actress in the Family

In the A-Z of Ashdown we have reached L. L is for Louisa. Louisa Brunton is one of the fascinating characters in the Craven family. Born between 1782 and 1785, Louisa was the daughter of a grocer turned actor and theatrical impresario. For part of his career her father John Brunton was manager of the theatre at Brighton where the Prince of Wales was his patron. Louisa’s brother John was also an actor and theatre manager, and two of her sisters, Elizabeth and Anne, became actresses. They were a theatrical dynasty.

The youngest of John Brunton’s six daughters, Louisa made her stage debut on 5th October 1803 at Covent Garden, playing Lady Townley in the 'Provoked Husband' opposite John Kemble as Lord Townley. She followed this role with that of Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing. The “Theatrical Inquisitor” for November 1803 described her as “extremely handsome and striking” with features expressive of archness and vivacity. One critic predicted a glittering future for her and gushed that she was both beautiful and gifted. Other gossip-writers agreed on her charm and the perfection of her face and figure.

Many other roles followed between 1803 and December 1807. It is interesting to note that from the start the respectable antecedents of Louisa and her family were emphasised in all the newspaper reports and biographies. She was from a professional theatrical family. She was not a courtesan.

Louisa's last performance was as Clara Sedley in Reynolds's comedy 'The Rage.' In 1805, William, 7^th

Baron and 1^st Earl of Craven of the 2^nd Creation had become one of Louisa’s admirers. In 1807 Mrs Calvert wrote in her diary: “She is certainly a very handsome woman but I don’t think her looks pleasing. She has prodigious fine black eyes, but she rolls them about too much. Lord Craven is supposed to be very much in love with her and many think he will marry her.” He did; they were married on 12^th December 1807. The marriage took place at the Earl’s London town house in Charles Street, Berkeley Square. The groom was thirty-seven and the bride’s age was given as twenty-five. Louisa left the stage behind. The Earl and Countess of Craven went to live at the earl’s estate of Hamstead Marshall in Berkshire, christening several of their children in the church there.

With the family connections between the Cravens and Jane Austen, it was only natural that Louisa Craven should be an avid reader of Jane Austen's work. In 1816 she was recorded as being a great admirer of Emma but apparently did not think it the equal of Pride and Prejudice.

The earl, like his forebears, was keen on field sports and horse racing. He was also a founder member of the Royal Yacht Squadron and in 1809 named his yacht Louisa. It was in Cowes that he died in 1825, aged 55. Louisa became the Dowager Countess with an income of £15 000 a year. She continued to live at Hamstead Marshall whilst her eldest son, the 2^nd Earl, chose Ashdown as his main seat. The family was close with the earl and his brothers Frederick Keppel and George and sister Louisa frequently visiting their mother at Hamstead.

The original grand “palace” at Hamstead Marshall had burned down in 1718 and Hamstead Lodge developed as a hunting lodge in its place, probably from one of the original 17th century buildings on the estate. During Louisa’s occupancy this house was remodelled in the Regency style and it was later extended again. Having left the ranks of the middle classes to join the aristocracy, Louisa seems to have been intent on maintaining a grand style. Perhaps her theatrical experience stood her in good stead for the role of great lady. She employed a liveried butler and attended church in a coach and four complete with postillions. She had a French cook. One of Louisa Craven’s main interests was garden design and she had a whole army of gardeners and a park-keeper in her household. The gardens at Hamstead Marshall became renowned for their beauty.

Louisa Craven died in 1860 at the age of 79. Her funeral took place at Coombe Abbey and she was buried in the Craven family vault at Binley. However there was a memorial service for her at Hamstead Marshall and it was here that she was particularly remembered as a generous benefactor to the church and the village school, and for the dances and suppers she held for villagers and tenants. She had become the perfect epitome of a grand aristocratic lady.

I am indebted to Deirdre Le Faye for the information on Jane Austen's Emma and to Penelope Stokes for the detail of Louisa Craven's life at Hamstead Marshall. Penny's book, Craven Country, is available here.

Talk on the History of Ashdown Park

Advance notice that there will be a fundraising talk for Ashbury Village Hall on "The History of Ashdown

Park and the Craven Family" on 22nd June at 7.30pm. The talk will take place in the village hall and there will be an exhibition of pictures and artefacts from the house as well. Supper is included in the £6 ticket price. It's a bargain! Contact 01793 710800 for tickets.

The Craven State Chariot

A couple of weeks ago I visited our National Trust colleagues at Arlington Court and went to the National Carriage Collection. One of the stars of this wonderful museum is the Craven state chariot and it was great to be able to see the carriage in real life. I am indebted to Katy Dainton at Arlington for the following information.

"This chariot is one of the most important carriages in the collection. Not only is it in original un-restored condition, but also it is an example of the work of Hooper & Co., one of the very finest London coachbuilders of the 19th century.  It has silver-plated furniture including axle caps and stock hoops, head plates (the crests of the Craven family on the upper quarter panels), snake head body loops and beautiful decorative terminations to the plated pin beads.  It also has the silver-plated coats of arms of the family on the hammer cloth.  The interior is beautifully lined in a bright, very rich shade of blue damask.
 
It is called a chariot because of the shape of the body.  A coach seats four inside the body, and therefore has

a seat ahead of the doors and one behind them.  A chariot only seats two on a seat behind the doors.  This chariot was built for the Earl of Craven between 1831 and 1836.  State carriages were only owned by the nobility and used on very important occasions such as the State Opening of Parliament, society weddings and grand receptions. This very limited use has kept it, and other vehicles like it, in excellent condition."

I had a good look inside the chariot and it was much smaller than I had imagined, positively cosy! The blue damask is very opulent. It was also great to get a good look at the carriage steps. These folded down and were covered in leather. The windows could be lowered and were covered by blinds for privacy. I loved the lamps, which were much bigger than I had imagined, were silver-plated and adorned with the Earl's coronet!

The carriage was made for William, 2nd Earl of the 2nd creation and would have been kept in the mews at his London address at Grosvenor Crescent.

The Ashdown Kitchen Garden

In Victorian times it was usual for large country houses to have a working walled kitchen garden producing food, herbs and flowers for the family, staff and guests. Great houses were largely self-sustaining in terms of food, especially a hunting lodge that provided its own game and meat.

After the Second World War with reductions in the workforce and increasing availability of cheap, imported food, kitchen gardens largely became neglected and many were destroyed. In Ashdown’s case the decline of the kitchen garden dates from the mid-1920s after Evelyn, Countess of Craven died and the house was let.

The Ashdown kitchen gardens were laid out some time after 1850. An old map reveals that the kitchen garden was situated on the west side of Ashdown village. We do not have a record of the layout and design of the beds but we do know that these lay behind the high sarsen wall that is still visible today (pictured). The area of the kitchen garden is now a paddock. In front of the sarsen wall, between the wall and the road, were potting sheds, a mushroom house and greenhouses that could be heated. These were built up against the sarsen wall and the outline of the fireplace and flue is still visible today. What we do not know is where the water would have come from for the gardens, a fascinating mystery.

The hothouses would have contained grapevines and other fruit that would be trained to grow up against the

walls. There may also have been pineapples, which were very fashionable, figs, melons, peaches, apples and pears, gooseberries, rhubarb, raspberries and redcurrants grown inside soft fruit cages. Vegetables in the Victorian kitchen garden included asparagus, broad and runner beans, onions, turnips, spinach, cabbages, potatoes, cauliflower, kale, beetroot, carrots, lettuce and Jerusalem artichokes. Salad vegetables, tomatoes and cucumbers, were also grown, alongside herb beds. It is likely that the greenhouses would also contain flowers that could be cut and used for decoration in the house.

According to the census returns there were six gardeners at Ashdown during the later Victorian era but there may have been others who came in to work from the local villages. In addition to the kitchen gardens they also had to keep the formal gardens and parterre looking good.

At Knightshayes House in Devon and a number of other National Trust properties there are existing or restored kitchen gardens and I’m grateful to the information provided by Knightshayes that gives us an insight into the sort of fruit and vegetables that would have been grown at Ashdown. You can read more about National Trust kitchen gardens here.