Ashridge has a rich history which dates right back to 1283, when Edmund of Cornwall founded a monastery for the Bonhomme monks. The dissolution of the monasteries by King Henry VIII led to the transition of Ashridge from monastery to royal home. The passing of Henry’s kin, Queen Elizabeth, meant the house transferred into the hands of her Lord Chancellor in 1604, Thomas Egerton. It remained a private house until the early 1920′s. Since then, Ashridge has been a training centre for the government, a branch of the Charing Cross Hospital during the Second World War and a finishing school for young ladies. The business school which exists today was created in 1959.The imposing neo-gothic building seen today was built to replace the original house in the early 1800′s under the direction of the Egerton family (the Dukes of Bridgewater). Totternhoe limestone was used throughout to create a gleaming white façade and to provide the perfect medium for the intricate stone carvings. The gardens, based on designs by Humphry Repton in 1813, compliment the Grade I listed building perfectly. Repton designed 15 different styles of smaller, formal gardens to create greater intimacy and interest. Avenues of trees create panoramic views from the house, past formal gardens and into the parkland beyond.