Ringshall is a

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

in the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills or the Chilterns are a chalk escarpment in southern England, located to the north-west of London, covering across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire; they stretch from Goring-on-Thames in the south- ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is located on the border of the counties of

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

and

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

; parts of the village lie in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

es of

Edlesborough Edlesborough is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. Edlesborough is also next to the village of Eaton Bray just over the county boundary in Bedfordshire, about west-south-west of Dunstab ...

and

Ivinghoe Ivinghoe is a town and civil parish in east Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders with Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. It is northwest of London, north of Tring and south of Leighton Buzzard, close to the village of Pitstone. Et ...

in eastern Buckinghamshire, while the rest of the village is mainly within the parish of

Little Gaddesden Little Gaddesden (pronounced ) is a village and civil parish in the borough of Dacorum, Hertfordshire north of Berkhamsted, close to the border with Bedfordshire. As well as Little Gaddesden village (population 694), the parish contains the se ...

(where the population was included) in the west of Hertfordshire. Ringshall lies within the HP4 postcode and the

postal address An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along ...

designated by

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

is "Ringshall, ".

History

''Ringshall'' is one of four place-names in the parish of Edlesborough Northall and Dagnall that have an origin with the suffix ''healh''; the others being

Dagnall Dagnall is a village in the parish of Edlesborough, in Buckinghamshire, England. The place name is derived from the Old English for "Daegga's Knoll". In manorial rolls of 1196 it was listed as ''Dagenhale''. The spelling ''Dagenhale'' appears ...

, Hudnall and

Northall Northall is a hamlet in the parish of Edlesborough, in Buckinghamshire, England. This large hamlet straddles the A4146 road halfway between Edlesborough and Billington, Bedfordshire. It has one large Baptist chapel which is still in use. The h ...

. Ringshall-Hall Farm is situated in the Edlesborough part, but the hamlet was always appendant to Ivinghoe. The Ivinghoe part of the hamlet was transferred to Little Gaddesden in 1895, but some houses have since been built along Beacon Road in the area that remained as part of Ivinghoe parish.

Landmarks

Ringshall is close to

Ashridge House Ashridge is a country estate and stately home in Hertfordshire, England. It is situated in the Chiltern Hills, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, about north of Berkhamsted and north west of London. The estate comprises of woodlands ...

, a former

stately home 300px, Oxfordshire.html" ;"title="Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire">Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a To ...

that is now in use as a management college. A

crenellated A battlement, in defensive architecture, such as that of city walls or castles, comprises a parapet (a defensive low wall between chest-height and head-height), in which gaps or indentations, which are often rectangular, occur at intervals ...

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

stone

gatehouse A gatehouse is a type of fortified gateway, an entry control point building, enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a town, religious house, castle, manor house, or other fortification building of importance. Gatehouses are typically the most ...

stands in Ringshall at an entrance to the Ashridge estate which was probably designed 1808-1813 by

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the Neoclassicism, neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy of Arts in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to ...

, architect of Ashridge House. Ringshall lies on the edge of the Ashridge Commons and Woods, an extensive a

country estate An estate is a large parcel of land under single ownership, which generates income for its owner. British context In the United Kingdom, historically an estate comprises the houses, outbuildings, supporting farmland, tenanted buildings, and ...

of dense woodland which is managed by the

National Trust The National Trust () is a heritage and nature conservation charity and membership organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Trust was founded in 1895 by Octavia Hill, Sir Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley to "promote the ...

. Moneybury Hill, a woodland next to Ringshall, is especially noted as it was

landscaped Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructi ...

by the celebrated English

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

Capability Brown Lancelot "Capability" Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783) was an English gardener and landscape architect, a notable figure in the history of the English landscape garden style. Unlike other architects ...

between 1759 and 1768 for the

Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater (21 May 1736 – 8 March 1803), known as Lord Francis Egerton until 1748, was a British nobleman from the Egerton family. He was the youngest son of the 1st Duke. He did not marry, and the dukedom expi ...

. Nearby Dockey Wood is also noted as an example of

bluebell wood A bluebell wood is a woodland that in springtime has a carpet of flowering bluebells (''Hyacinthoides non-scripta'') underneath a newly forming leaf canopy (biology), canopy. The thicker the summer canopy, the more the competitive ground-cover is ...

s. From the 1930s to the 1990s, the Deer Leap swimming pool operated in Ringshall, drawing large numbers of visitors to the hamlet.Refusal of planning permission at Deer Leap swimming pool site 1998 and dismissal of appeal 1999
Dacorum Borough Council

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Ringshall, Berkhamsted, Ringshall Hamlets in Hertfordshire Hamlets in Buckinghamshire Dacorum Aylesbury Vale Ashridge Ivinghoe Little Gaddesden

History

Landmarks

References

Further reading

External links