In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Ashdown Park like this:
ASHDOWN PARK, the seat of the Earl of Craven, in Berks; on a high desolate spot, among bleak downs, near Ridgeway or Icknield-street, 3 miles SSW of White Horse vale, and 3¼ NW of Lambourn. The house was built by Webb, the nephew of Inigo Jones; is in the same style as Coleshill; and contains interesting family portraits. ...
Stones called the Grey Wethers, looking like a flock of sheep, remains of a stratum of Bagshot sand, similar in nature to the stones of Stonehenge and Avebury, lie on the turf around the house; and a small circular camp, known as Alfred's Castle, lies to the E. Some neighbouring spot on the downs contests with Aston, Ashendon, Ashampstead, and Ilsley, the celebrity of having been the scene of the famous battle, in 871, between Alfred and the Danes, and is now thought by most antiquaries to have the best of the claim; so that, most probably, Ashdown was the Æscendune of the Saxons.
Additional information about this locality is available for Ashbury
Ashdown Park through time
Ashdown Park is now part of Vale of White Horse district. Click here for graphs and data of how Vale of White Horse has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Ashdown Park itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Ashdown Park, in Vale of White Horse and Berkshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/25643
Date accessed: 24th April 2024
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