Ashcombe House

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Ashcombe House, also known as Ashcombe Park, is a Georgian manor house, set in 1,134 acres (4.59 km²) of land, on Cranborne Chase, at Berwick St. John, near Salisbury, England. It is listed as a Grade II structure by English Heritage, a government body responsible for the historic environment in England.^[1]

The building was originally part of a much larger structure dating from approximately 1740, much of which was pulled down at the beginning of the 19th century. The house was rented and restored in the 1930s and 1940s by the photographer Cecil Beaton, who detailed it in his book Ashcombe: The Story of a Fifteen-Year Lease^[2]. While in Beaton's hands, the house played host to many other prominent artists and photographers, notably Salvador Dalí, who used the house as the backdrop of one of his paintings.

The grounds of the house are noted for their re-established wildlife, including fallow deer. The grounds are also noted as one of the top game bird shooting venues in Britain. The Field magazine voted it one of Britain's ten top venues for pheasant shooting. Public rights of way run through the grounds; these are open to the public all year round.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie have owned the house since 2001; in May 2008 it was reported that the couple are considering selling it.^[3]

[edit] References

^ Ashcombe House. Images of England. Retrieved on 2006-05-09.
^ Beaton, Cecil (1999). Ashcombe: The Story of a Fifteen-year Lease. Dovecote Press. ISBN 1-874336-66-0.
^ Madonna to sell house in Wiltshire. Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2008-05-15.