Ashridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ashridge is an estate and house in Hertfordshire, England; part of the land stretches into Buckinghamshire and it is close to the Bedfordshire border. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, about two miles north of Berkhamsted and twenty miles north west of London. Surrounding villages include Aldbury, Pitstone, Ivinghoe, Little Gaddesden, Nettleden, and Potten End.
The estate comprises 20 square kilometres (5,000 acres) of woodlands, commons and chalk downland which supports a rich variety of wildlife. It also offers a good choice of waymarked walks through outstanding country.
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[edit] Ashridge Priory
In mediæval times it was the location of an Ashridge Priory founded in 1276 by the Earl of Cornwall, who had a palace here.
At the foundation of the abbey the Earl of Cornwall donated, among other things, a phial of Christ's blood, in honour of which the convent adjacent to the abbey was founded. This made the abbey and convent a center of pilgrimage, meaning that the abbey grew quite wealthy.
In 1290 King Edward I held parliament at the abbey while he spent Christmas in Pitstone.
The abbey was disolved during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and later became the private residence of Princess Elizabeth, younger daughter of King Henry VIII. It was here that she was arrested in 1552, under suspicion of treason.
[edit] The Egerton Family
From 1604 to 1848 the estate was the property of the Dukes and Earls of Bridgewater (the Egerton family). The Bridgewater Monument was built in memory of the 3rd Duke, Francis Egerton, the "father of inland navigation" with a view to the Grand Union Canal. The monument contains a narrow spiral staircase of 170 steps and is open to the public.
The abbey, which was of grand proportions and richly decorated, was pulled down in 1802 by the 7th Earl of Bridgewater, and was replaced by a large neo-Gothic house designed by James Wyatt and now a Grade 1 listed building. The then boundary between Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire passed through the dining room, though the house is now entirely in Hertfordshire. The estate then passed to the Earls Brownlow, and then in 1921 was split, with the land passing to the National Trust, while the house and garden became the Ashridge (Bonar Law) College.
[edit] College of Citizenship and Ashridge Business School
Ashridge's "College of Citizenship" was opened in 1929 to help the Conservative Party develop its intellectual forces in struggles with left-wing organisations such as the Fabian Society. It became a cross between a think-tank and a training centre and had Arthur Bryant as its educational adviser. During World War Two, Ashridge was used as a secondary site for Charing Cross Hospital. After the war, the College of Citizenship was briefly re-launched, then a finishing school for girls was added, and finally, in 1959 Ashridge was completely re-launched to provide management training, and is now Ashridge Business School.
Ashridge Business School is an independent, not for profit organisation. Its activities include open & tailored executive education programmes, MBA, MSc & Diploma qualifications, organisation consulting, applied research and online learning. Ashridge works with private and public organisations from around the world. In the latest Financial Times rankings for tailored executive education (May 2006), Ashridge was ranked 3rd in the UK. Ashridge Business School is one of a handful of business schools in the world to be triple accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), The European Quality Improvement System (EQUIS)and The Association of MBAs (AMBA).
[edit] Trivia
Ashridge Common has been featured many times in film and television series due to its distinction as an area of natural beauty. It was the location for the film Danny, the Champion of the World based on the book by Roald Dahl. Some of the Ashridge Estate have been used for filming parts of the Harry Potter films, including The Goblet of Fire. The Ashridge House, which is now Ashridge Business School has been featured in films such as The Dirty Dozen.
Part of the estate became Ashridge Golf Club in 1932, and had Henry Cotton as its club professional in the late 1930s, including his most successful year 1937.
It should not be confused with Asheridge, which is a hamlet about five miles south-west, the other side of Berkhamsted.
[edit] References
- Coult, Douglas (1980). A Prospect of Ashridge. Chichester: Phillimore. ISBN 0-85033-360-1.
