Images: Ashridge garden facade with chapel, garden facade Wyatt block (19th century), early Tudor vaulted undercroft, former late medieval tithe barn, converted Tudor-era coach house, estate hunting standing (photos: C.A. Stanford)
Acquired: 1539
Originally a religious foundation, the College of Bonshommes at Ashridge was dissolved in 1539 and its buildings retained by the Crown. It is not clear which of the monastic buildings were adapted to serve as royal apartments but there was a great hall, a great chamber, a chamber of presence, a privy chamber and a bedchamber. In addition a chapel was retained and also the monastery’s “steeple” which was converted into the chamberlain’s lodging.
The royal children were frequently in residence here as the air was thought to be very healthy. By the mid-sixteenth century, however, the house was in poor repair and was alienated from the Crown in 1575. The house was entirely rebuilt in the nineteenth century, though traces of Tudor-era fabric remain in the vaulted undercroft, chapel, and some outbuildings.