Asheridge (recorded Esserugge in the 13th century) is a small

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one o ...

Chartridge Chartridge is a village in Buckinghamshire, England situated 2 miles North West of Chesham. Chartridge is also the name of a civil parish in Chiltern District which also includes the village of Bellingdon and the hamlets of Pednor, Hundridge an ...

, in Buckinghamshire, England. Prior to 1898 it was part of

Chesham Chesham (, , or ) is a market town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, south-east of the county town of Aylesbury, north-west of central London, and part of the London commuter belt. It is in the Chess Valley, surrounded by farmla ...

parish. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, about two and a half miles north west of

, 5 miles from

Great Missenden Great Missenden is an affluent village with approximately 2,000 residents in the Misbourne Valley in the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England, situated between the towns of Amersham and Wendover, with direct rail connections to London Mar ...

and 6 miles from

Wendover Wendover is a market town and civil parish at the foot of the Chiltern Hills in Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated at the point where the main road across the Chilterns between London and Aylesbury intersects with the once important road a ...

. Another suggestion is that the name derives from the Old English ''æsc'' and ''hrycg'', and meant ‘long hill covered with ash trees.’ 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. On 5 March 1945 Avro Lancaster PB745 crashed in fields near Asheridge. The seven crew of the aircraft were drawn from the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

and the

Royal Australian Air Force "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

. There was only one survivor, the

rear gunner A tail gunner or rear gunner is a crewman on a military aircraft who functions as a gunner defending against enemy fighter or interceptor attacks from the rear, or "tail", of the plane. The tail gunner operates a flexible machine gun or aut ...

, William Hart. A memorial service and dedication of a plaque took place on 13 May 2012. Aneurin (Nye) Bevan,

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Minister responsible for the establishment of the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

and his wife Jennie Lee also a Minister in the same Labour Government and a prime mover in the creation of the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...

, came to live at Asheridge Farm in 1954. After the death of her husband, Nye in 1960 Jennie Lee continued to live there until moving to London in 1968. She became Baroness Lee of Asheridge in 1970.Papers of Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge
/ref>

References

Early Buckinghamshire Charters by Dr Herbert R.G. Fowler & J. G.Jenkins Records of the Buckinghamshire Archaeological Society Vol 3 page 48 1939
{{Chiltern Hamlets in Buckinghamshire