{{Short description|Village in Buckinghamshire, England}} {{Distinguish|Ashridge}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2019}} {{Use British English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox UK place |country = England |static_image_name = The Blue Ball, Asheridge - geograph.org.uk - 164444.jpg |static_image_caption= Blue Ball pub, Asheridge |coordinates = {{coord|51.7304|-0.6415|display=inline,title}} |official_name =Asheridge |population = |unitary_england = [[Buckinghamshire Council|Buckinghamshire]] |lieutenancy_england = [[Buckinghamshire]] |region=South East England |constituency_westminster= [[Chesham and Amersham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chesham and Amersham]] |post_town= [[Chesham]] |postcode_district = HP5 |postcode_area= HP |dial_code= |os_grid_reference= SP9304 }} '''Asheridge''' (recorded '''Esserugge''' in the 13th century) is a small village in the [[parish]] of [[Chartridge]], in [[Buckinghamshire]], England. Prior to 1898 it was part of [[Chesham]] parish. It is situated in the [[Chiltern Hills]], about two and a half miles north west of [[Chesham]], 5 miles from [[Great Missenden]] and 6 miles from [[Wendover]].
{{Citation needed span|text=The village name is probably of [[Old English]] origin but its meaning is uncertain. It may denote, ''Eastern'' or ''Ash tree Ridge'', referring to the situation of the village on the ridge of a hill or could derive from previous associations with the manor of nearby [[Aston Clinton]]. Matilda de Esserugge is recorded as having connections with [[Missenden Abbey]] in the mid-13th century.|date=July 2019|reason=}} Another suggestion is that the name derives from the Old English ''æsc'' and ''hrycg'', and meant ‘long hill covered with ash trees.’<ref>{{Cite book|title=Place-names of Great Britain and Ireland|last=Field|first=John|date=1980|publisher=David & Charles|isbn=0389201545|location=Newton Abbot, Devon|oclc=6964610|page=26}}</ref>
Asheridge Farmhouse is of 16th-century origin. In 1848 Asheridge is recorded as having a population of 129. A school and congregational church were established there during the latter part of the 19th century and records show they were still in existence in 1891. The Blue Ball public house which was at the centre of the settlement at that time is still in business today.<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42547&strquery=chesham British History Online - Victorian History of Buckinghamshire Volume 3 - Chesham]</ref>
On 5 March 1945 an [[Avro Lancaster]] PB745 crashed in fields near Asheridge. The seven crew of the aircraft were drawn from the [[Royal Air Force]] and the [[Royal Australian Air Force]]. There was only one survivor, the [[rear gunner]], William Hart. A memorial service and dedication of a plaque took place on 13 May 2012.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_yEUszkei0 Lancaster Crew Memorial Service: Asheridge, Buckinghamshire 13 May 2012], YouTube, Accessed 3 October 2012</ref>
[[Aneurin Bevan|Aneurin (Nye) Bevan]], [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Secretary of State (United Kingdom)|Minister]] responsible for the establishment of the [[National Health Service]] and his wife [[Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge|Jennie Lee]], also a Minister in the same Labour Government and a key figure in the creation of the [[Open University]], came to live at Asheridge Farm in 1954. After the death of her husband in 1960, Lee continued to live there until moving to London in 1968. She became Baroness Lee of Asheridge in 1970.<ref>[https://archive.today/20120723081358/http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/0609jlee.html Papers of Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge]</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} *[http://www.bucksvoice.net/brs/assets/documents/brs-vol-03 Early Buckinghamshire Charters by Dr Herbert R.G. Fowler & J. G.Jenkins Records of the Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society Vol 3 page 48 1939] {{commons category|Asheridge|position=left}}
{{Chiltern}}
[[Category:Villages in Buckinghamshire]]