Little Gaddesden (pronounced /lɪtlɡædzdən/) is a village and civil parish in the borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Berkhamsted, close to the border with Bedfordshire. As well as Little Gaddesden village (population 694), the parish contains the settlements of Ashridge (population 53), Hudnall (population 139), and part of Ringshall (population 81).[4] The total population at the 2011 Census was 1,125.[5]
There is a vigorous community life with over 25 different clubs and societies.[11]
Local residents are kept updated on events in Little Gaddesden through The Gaddesden Diary, published seasonally. The Parish News also provides a further summary.
History
In the early 17th century, Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley, purchased Ashridge House, a large country house, from Queen Elizabeth I, who had inherited it from her father who had appropriated it after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539. Ashridge House served the Egerton family as a residence until the 19th century. The Egertons later had a family chapel (the Bridgewater Chapel) with burial vault in Little Gaddesden Church.[12]
Hudnall was formerly in the parish of Edlesborough, Buckinghamshire until it was transferred to the parish of Little Gaddesden in 1884.[13]
Landmarks
Little Gaddesden has many period properties, of note: Ashridge House, (designed by Sir James Wyattville along with gardens and grounds designed by Humphry Repton and Capability Brown), The Manor House situated on the Green along with John O’Gaddesden House and Marian House, Little Gaddesden House along Nettleden Road heading towards the hamlet of Nettleden and the Old Rectory past the village shop heading to Ringshall.
Other monuments of note in the church include a monument to John Egerton, 2nd Earl of Bridgewater; and the "Red Lady" monument in the South Aisle, commemorating Elizabeth Dutton, granddaughter of Sir Thomas Egerton, which was originally located in the old church of St Martin’s-in-the-Fields in London before it was pulled down in the 1720s.[12]
The Ashridge Estate that surrounds the village is a 5,000-acre (20 km2)[16] area of open countryside and woodland on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, with a rich variety of wildlife including fallow deer and muntjac.[17] There are large areas of mature woodlands with carpets of spring bluebells and fine autumnal displays, along with the panorama from the Bridgewater Monument.
Little Gaddesden Church of England Primary School, seen in 2009.
Little Gaddesden Church of England primary school is a primary school with approximately 100 students (aged 4–11).[18] The school is voluntarily-aided and is linked with the Diocese of St. Albans.[18]Vicars Bell was headmaster of the school for 34 years (1929-1963).[18][19]
Sport
Little Gaddesden plays host to a variety of sports clubs, this includes badminton, Little Gaddesden Bowls & Croquet club,[20] Little Gaddesden Cricket Club (which plays in the Mid-Bucks League), a junior football club,[21] a tennis club, and Ashridge golf club.[22]
J. Leonhardt, A Century Remembered: The Millennium Book for Little Gaddesden, Ringshall, Hudnall and Ashridge, Rural Heritage Society, 2002, ISBN0-9542174-0-3.
