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Ramridge House

Introduction

Features at Ramridge include one 19th-century lodge and one 20th-century copy. Original planting is visible on a current aerial photograph. The kitchen garden remains. The house is now flats and offices.

An estate map of 1740 shows rides cut through the woodland to the north of the house. These are still visible on a current aerial photograph as is much of the planting in the park including two lines of boundary trees to the south and west. The kitchen garden which first appears on the 1740 map survives intact, but without its formal planting.
Visitor Access, Directions & Contacts
History

A well-wooded ancient site, Ramridge was originally a religious house granted by William the Conqueror to the Abbey of Grestayn in Normandy. In 1442 it was used by Wiliam de la Pole and his wife Alice Chaucer, granddaughter and heir of Geofrey Chaucer, to endow their new foundation God's House at Ewelme.

The site of Weyhill fair, one of the largest in England, was close by and may have been in the appurtenance of the manor of Ramridge. Daniel Defoe in his travels of 1722 made a special detour to visit the fair, and it was later used by Thomas Hardy as the setting for The Mayor of Casterbridge, re-named Weydon Priors.

The present three storey red-brick house was built around 1740 and re-modelled in the 19th century. Changes included additions at either side of the house and a Bath stone Ionic porch at the front entrance to the north. At the entrance to the park are two identical lodges, one dating from the 19th century and the other a 20th-century copy. The house has been split into flats and offices, and the lodges are also in private ownership.

Features & Designations

Designations

  • The National Heritage List for England: Listed Building

  • Reference: Ramridge House
  • Grade: II*

  • Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation

Features

  • Kitchen Garden
  • Description: The kitchen garden which first appears on the 1740 map survives intact, but without its formal planting.
  • Latest Date:
  • House (featured building)
  • Description: The present three storey red-brick house was built around 1740 and re-modelled in the 19th century. Changes included additions at either side of the house and a Bath stone Ionic porch at the front entrance to the north. The house has been split into flats and offices.
  • Earliest Date:
  • Latest Date:
  • Gate Lodge
  • Description: At the entrance to the park are two identical lodges, one dating from the 19th century and the other a 20th-century copy.
  • Earliest Date:
  • Latest Date:
  • Ride
  • Description: An estate map of 1740 shows rides cut through the woodland to the north of the house. These are still visible on a current aerial photograph.
  • Latest Date:
Key Information

Type

Park

Purpose

Ornamental

Principal Building

Commercial

Survival

Extant

Hectares

47

Open to the public

Yes

Civil Parish

Penton Grafton