Putteridge Bury
| Putteridge Bury | |
| Hertfordshire | |
|---|---|
 Putteridge Bury | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TL11962478 |
| Location: | 51°54’37"N, 0°22’25"W |
| History | |
| Built 1911 | |
| By: | Ernest George & Alfred Yeats |
| Country house | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | University of Bedfordshire |
Putteridge Bury is a country house in northern Hertfordshire, close to the county border with Bedfordshire and the edge of the built-up area of Luton in the latter county, but so far Putteridge Bury has escaped encroachment. It in the Hertfordshire parish of Offley.
Mansion
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.
Queen Mary and King George V often visited Putteridge Bury with the Prince of Wales and on 1 December 1926 the King planted an oak tree in the lawn to the south of the house. Between the wars, it was owned by Sir Felix Cassel, the Judge Advocate-General to the Forces.[1]
Park
The Putteridge estate is a mixture of arable farmland and woodland; as well as the occasional visiting muntjac and fallow deer, the estate is home to Lady Amherst's pheasant (Chrysolophus amherstiae) as well as the more common pheasant.
Educational use
In 1965 the estate was acquired by Luton Borough Council and opened as Putteridge Bury College of Education in 1966. That finished in the 1970s and the site was merged with Luton Technical College to become the Luton College of Higher Education, in September 1978.
From 1985 the function rooms were gradually renovated to their original splendour and to conference centre standards.
The unused gymnasium was converted to a learning resources centre.
Luton College of Higher Education became the University of Luton in 1993 and the University of Bedfordshire in 2006.
Outside links
- University of Bedfordshire: Putteridge Bury Campus History
References
- ↑ Biography of Cassel, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
- Dyer, James: 'The Stopsley Book' (Book Castle, 1998) ISBN 1-871199-04-2, pp. 56–64
