Little Gaddesden

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. Hudnall was first recorded as a farmstead in 1545, and later held by the Earl of Chesterfield, via inheritance from Lady Elizabeth Dormer. ==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. A memorial cross and drinking fountain erected to the memory of Marian Alford is situated in Little Gaddesden. It is listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England. Parish Church The Church of St Peter and St Paul at the north end of the village is mostly 15th century in origin. It was refurbished in 1819 by Jeffry Wyatt for John Egerton, 7th Earl of Bridgewater. The interior contains many 19th-century fittings and adornments, including an 1896 fresco on the east wall, which is a copy of a fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli in the chapel of the Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence. and a monument to the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, famous as the originator of British inland navigation and the Bridgewater Canal. 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. File:The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Little Gaddesden - geograph.org.uk - 1550838.jpg|The Bridgewater Chapel File:John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater memorial.jpg|Memorial to John Egerton, 3rd Earl of Bridgewater (1646–1701) File:Memorial to Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater.jpg|Memorial to Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, 6th Earl of Bridgewater (1736–1803) 7th Earl of Bridgewater Memorial.jpg|Memorial to John William Egerton, 7th Earl of Bridgewater (1753–1823) Earl of Bridgewater memorial 1829.jpg|Memorial to Francis Henry Egerton, 8th Earl of Bridgewater (1756–1829) File:The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul at Little Gaddesden - geograph.org.uk - 1550835.jpg|The "Red Lady" memorial to Elizabeth Dutton ==Geography==

Nearby villages and Hamlets of Little Gaddesden include: Aldbury, Great Gaddesden, Gaddesden Row, Frithsden, Nettleden, Potten End, Ivinghoe, Northchurch, Ringshall, Studham, Dudswell, Wigginton, Dagnall and Flamstead. Environment The Ashridge Estate that surrounds the village is a area of open countryside and woodland on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, with a rich variety of wildlife including fallow deer and muntjac. There are large areas of mature woodlands with carpets of spring bluebells and fine autumnal displays, along with the panorama from the Bridgewater Monument. ==Economy==

Local amenities include the Alford Arms public house, Bridgewater Arms public house, Little Gaddesden Village Shop and Post Office, Munn's Farm Shop, Ivinghoe Beacon, Pitstone Windmill, Frithsden Vineyard, Gaddesden Place, the Gaddesden Estate, Walter Swinburn racing stables, Stocks House, Ashridge Business School also known as Ashridge House, London Gliding Club, Dunstable Downs and Whipsnade Zoo. ==Education==

Little Gaddesden Church of England primary school is a primary school with approximately 100 students (aged 4–11). The school is voluntarily-aided and is linked with the Diocese of St. Albans. ==Sport==

Little Gaddesden plays host to a variety of sports clubs, this includes badminton, Little Gaddesden Bowls & Croquet club, Little Gaddesden Cricket Club (which plays in the Mid-Bucks League), a junior football club, a tennis club, and Ashridge golf club. ==Notable people==

• William Ellis (1758), local writer on agriculture. • John Motson, football commentator, owned a house in the village. • Vicars Bell (1904-1988), local schoolteacher and author. ==Gallery==

File:Ashridge Park, Hertfordshire - geograph.org.uk - 897510.jpg|Ashridge Park, Little Gaddesden File:Lamsey Farm - geograph.org.uk - 193359.jpg|Lamsey Farm, Little Gaddesden File:The Bridgewater Arms at Little Gaddesden - geograph.org.uk - 1550225.jpg|The Bridgewater arms public house, Little Gaddesden ==References==