A for the ashes - Ashton and Ashridge.
Ashridge lane 'Ash trees often marked sites of special significance' Forestry Focus Photo Julie Sampson A to Z of Devon places and Devon women writers |
Ashridge
This track, leading to Ashridge Court, in mid Devon, is typical of this part of the county. It has always seemed to me that Devon's lanes, almost always edged with the high hedges associated with the county and also, intersecting with one another in maze-like interconnections, are unique. The first feature means that if you're in such a lane invariably you cannot see over the top of the bank to the vista the other side; the second leads to visiting strangers becoming hopelessly lost in the lane labyrinth. These features match the experiences I have sometimes had as I've tried to formulate my research. At times, in the early stages of writing, overloaded with material, and in the middle of a chaos of papers, I have sometimes struggled to find a way in, or indeed, out again.
Sampson family at Ashridge, circa 1920s. |
At this point, I want briefly to bring in another sub-thread from my own book, that of family history. Ashridge, for instance, is the background site in one of the family photo-albums I've inherited, which contains several photos of the estate featuring members of my family. Ashridge's ancient woods, track and fields were a popular walking trails for my grandparents' generation. Problem is, I don't know who all the individuals in the images are, nor do I know anyone alive who will know. They will exist for ever as people in a picture in an album, but their names will not ever now be identified. Those who did know have gone. Often there is as much mystery, or missing information concerning these unknown individuals (who incidentally, more often than not, are or were, women rather than men) as that around the women writers whose lives and texts I've been chasing up. Likewise, as I have researched my home county's forgotten women writers I've often come up against that old brick wall impasse, finding a mysterious name buried in a list of author names, in an out of print and obscure source or, whilst knowing the title and contents of a novel, have not been able to find information relating to its author. Another common happening is that frequently, whilst looking up various women writers I've found myself meeting up with branches and individuals from my own ancestral tree.
Well, I'll leave the coincidences and interconnections between ancestry and literary history to another post and take you back to where I started this piece. Geographically, Ashridge is within the topographic territorial space which delineates the so-called nemeton area; land of the sacred wood or sacred groves. If you are unfamiliar with this term and its associations with the mid-Devon district, the online account Nemeton in the Ancient World provides a fascinating introduction. I first encountered the term and the local associations with it, in ‘Devon’s Sacred Grove’ (Westcountry Folklore No.17), by Dr. Angela Blaen. The opening chapters of Writing Women on the Devon Land include more about nemeton's links with mid Devon sites and literature.
But, no, in case you are asking, as yet I have not found any particular woman writer associated with Ashridge! For me, the place is iconic, it represents beginnings, a way in to the heart of a mystery. In terms of my own research apropos Devon's forgotten women writers, as archetype, Ashridge stands sentinel for a great many other similar Devon sites and locations, whose rich past has become overlaid with superimposed layerings of history. And, I believe if only we could enter a time warp into the past we'd come upon women who were writing or in some other way involved in literary pursuits who lived in these great old houses.Taking into account the fragments of information that are available about mid Devon manor's past, I believe women living there could have been important bearers of literary activity. With that in mind, one of the protagonists of a fictional fragment included in my book, an imaginary female in the Wood family, lived and was brought up at Ashridge. I hope you will eventually meet up with her and her cousin at their C13 home at Court Green, in North Tawton.
A is for ...
Ashton
Interior of Ashton Church |
Interior of Ashton Church |
Interior of Ashton Church |
Note: Please see Page One for an introduction to this Blog.
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