URPoint Details
Admission to Woodland is free no picnicking no WCs or refreshments. Wheelchair access to grounds only; house not accessible to wheelchair users. Dogs in woodland only on leads.
Built in the early 1600s Dutch style mansion constructed of chalk for William, 1st Earl of Craven.
Legend has it that Craven built Ashdown during an outbreak of the plague in London, as a refuge for Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia, Charles I's sister, to whom he was devoted. After her death in 1662, it was consecrated as a shrine to her memory.
It is more likely to have been used as a hunting lodge, while Craven's house at nearby Hamstead Mansell was being built.
The house has a tall block flanked by 2 low pavilions and on both of the main fronts are small stone balcony projects over the doorway. The central first floor window is surmounted by a pediment steeply pitched roof, dormer windows, balustraded roof and cupola surmounted by a gilded globe.
The great oak staircase, rising from the hall to a viewing platform on the roof, is most impressive and takes up a quarter of the house.
The house contains an important group of Caroline portraits of the Winter Queen's family, mainly by Gerard van Honthurst.
- Type:
- Landmark