Putteridge Bury
Putteridge Bury is an estate which belongs to the University of Bedfordshire, previously being used as the Management Campus of the University of Luton, it was originally acquired in 1965 as a Teacher Training College.
The mansion was built in the style of Chequers by architects Sir Ernest George and Alfred Yeats and completed in 1911. The grounds were redesigned by Edwin Lutyens, soon to be recognised as the foremost architect of the era, and planted by Gertrude Jekyll, one of the first lady Victorian gardeners. Particular features are the reflective pool and massive yew hedges. As well as the mansion house the estate has a farm and a collection of cottages spread across the estate.
The Putteridge estate is a mixture of arable farmland and woodland; as well as the occasional visiting muntjac and fallow deer, the estate has Lady Amherst's Pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae) as well as the more common pheasant.
