



ASHRIDGE PARK, 



GREAT BERKHAMPSTEAD, 



THE SEAT OF ... 



EARL BROWNLOW. 



THIS great domain lies upon those fair n "I 



Hertfordshire and Buckingham which .HI- so rich in 

 the stats of tin- noble, and it is famous amurv^ the 

 beautiful places in the land tor its rare tv.u:ty. 

 its palatial grandeur, and its many memories. Tlu- 

 two countit-s might well strive for the possession of such a 

 place. If Buckingham has the house, the staHes and a large 

 part of that umbrageous park belong to Hertfordshire. It 

 a region of open forest tracts ..net, where the porkers 

 chewed the beech mast while the swineherd sat in tin- shade. 

 and is full of green and umbrageous richness still. Ancient 

 men are \et. or a tew \t-.irs ago were, alixe who would tell the 

 wayfarer that in their youth the only w ay to Dun-table w as. at 

 will, by the meadows or over the downs. But famous makers 

 <rf ItMds and canals ha-, e p .ss-s ed Ashndge no otli- r than 

 the Egertons, Harls and Dukes of Bridgewater. Through 

 many changes it had come down to them from ancient .la\ -. 

 Edmund Crouchback, Harl of Cornwall, son of RoVrt, King of 

 the Romans, seems to have won \shridge Irom the wild. There 



he lived, and dieJ in MOO, nax m^ founded, neai his man- 

 a t>u>dly house for the brethren ( the " Botishoinin. s." 

 whom he endowed, not onl\ w;th wealth, but with a 

 portion of the "holy blood " ot H.ules, m (iloucester- 

 shire, whicn brought main 1 pilgrims to the imintry shrine. 

 Ten years belore lidmund died, hdward I. kept his Chri-tmas 

 sadly .it Ashridjie. for Hleanor had passed awa\ but .1 

 weeks Ivtore.and he held a parliament there, to the discomfort 

 of the natives, who were called upon tor supplies. 



When the Dissolution came, and revenues tell tr-nn 

 monastic hands into royal or noble >..ilets. the Bnshonimes 

 went the way o! their brethren, and bdward VI. installed his 

 sister hh/abeth at Ashrid^e. There she was sleeping, and 

 feiynin^ to be ill, as many believed, when the "Iti.eiso! Oueen 

 Mar\ broke in upon her privacy, and in the royal litter boie her 

 "It to the Tower. Then AshnJ^e passed to the celebrated 

 Lord Chancellor b^erton. h.ul of Hllesmere, and from him to 

 h:s son John huerton, first harl of Brid^ewater, of whom his 

 monument, in the church of delightful Little < i i. outride 





