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Ashdown House, Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), England
Ashdown House underwent few changes through its existence until the second World War when it was requisitioned. This had a dire consequence for the house leaving it in an exceedingly poor, near derelict, condition. In 1956 it was donated to the National Trust by Cornelia, Countess of Craven. The National Trust have leased the house and recent tenants have made improvements to the property. A structural renovation was begun by Pete Townshend who purchased a 41 year lease on the property in 2010. There is only limited public access. You can either take a guided tour on Wednesdays or Staturdays between April and October or you can access the stairs and roof to enjoy the broad views of the Berkshire Downs.
People connected to Ashdown House
A fraction of the portrait collection of Elizabeth the Winter Queen featuring members of her family and her court, remains in the hallway and stairway of Ashdown House. She left these reminders of people who were key in her life to "'William Craven"' whose portrait in full armour dominates the space.
Other portraits include:
- Frederick of Bohemia
- Elizabeth's daughter Princess Louise Hollandine,
- the artist of two of the paintings in the collection, and her cousin Mary, Princess Royal,the daughter of Charles I.
- Mary's mother-in-law Amelia, who was at one time Elizabeth of Bohemia's lady in waiting.
- three of Elizabeth and Frederick's sons; Charles Louis, the heir to Frederick's princedom,
- Prince Rupert of the Rhine, whose life Craven saved in battle,
- Edward, who made an advantageous marriage to one of the richest women in France.
- an early portrait, painted when he was only nineteen,of Charles II, their cousin
- three of Elizabeth and Frederick's daughters; Elizabeth, the eldest, the "philosophical princess," a great scholar,
- Henrietta Maria, the tragic bride of Prince Sigismund of Transylvania,
- Sophie,the mother of King George I
- Prince Christian of Anhalt, Elizabeth's cousin, who rode into battle with her glove as his talisman
- Frances Coke, the runaway bride.
- Prince Rupert, Colonel Murray and Colonel Russell painted by William Dobson, court painter to Charles I, with symbols of loyalty aplenty
- Viscount Bolingbroke was allowed to live there after his disgrace and it was partly at Ashdown that he intrigued with the Jacobites in his attempt to prevent the succession of the House of Hanover to the English Throne.
- Later, the 6th Baron's widow, the notorious Margravine of Anspach and her new husband lived there upon their initial return to England in the 1790s. She wrote several plays and operas in the house.
Craven Mixture at Ashdown House
Don José Carreras Ferrer, a Spanish nobleman who fought in the Peninsular War later settled in London and established his family's apothecary business there pioneering cigar development. His son,Don José Joaquin, later specialising in blending both tobacco and snuff.The Carreras Tobacco Company boasted always of being 'Established 1788' Amongst the world famous brands produced by Don José were Guards' Mixture and Hankey's Mixture and after World War I Caven A, the first cigarettes to be made by machine with cork tips. Carreras sold over a thousand brands of cigar as well as snuffs, cigarettes, pipes and the accoutrements of the smoking habit.
George Grimston Craven, the 3rd Earl of Ashdown House joined the throng of high society becoming, as was the fashion, a frequent customer of the Carreras store in Regent Street and their most famous brand, the 'Craven Mixture' was created especially for him but quickly became most popular. Hardly surprising that Ashdown House should have a typical smoking room furnished with swathes of velvet thought to absorb the smoke restricting it to one room and preventing it from ruining furnishings in other rooms.
In 2012, during renovations to Ashdown House many packets of Craven A were found presumably left by builders working on the house during the past century.
Sources, References and Further Reading:
- http://ashdownhouse.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/the-illustrious-history-...
- http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ashdown-house
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashdown_House%2C_Oxfordshire
- http://www.ashdownhouse.blogspot.co.uk/
this project is in History Link
