Putteridge Bury is a country house on the edge of the built-up area of

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated Beds) is a ceremonial county in the East of England. The county has been administered by three unitary authorities, Borough of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Borough of Luton, since Bedfordshire County Council ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

but located just over the county boundary in the parish of

Offley Offley is a civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire, between Hitchin and Luton. The main village is Great Offley, and the parish also contains the nearby hamlets of Little Offley and The Flints. In the south-west of the parish, ...

in Hertfordshire.

Mansion

The mansion was built in the style of Chequers by architects Sir

Ernest George Sir Ernest George (13 June 1839 – 8 December 1922) was a British architect, landscape and architectural watercolourist, and etcher. Life and work Born in London, Ernest George began his architectural training in 1856, under Samuel Hewit ...

and Alfred Yeats and completed in 1911. The grounds were redesigned by Edwin L 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 George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...

often visited Putteridge Bury with the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

and on 1 December 1926 the King planted an

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

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.Biography of Cassel, ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

Park

The Putteridge estate is a mixture of arable farmland and woodland; as well as the occasional visiting

muntjac Muntjacs ( ), also known as the barking deer or rib-faced deer, (URL is Google Books) are small deer of the genus ''Muntiacus'' native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. Muntjacs are thought to have begun appearing 15–35 million years ago, ...

and

fallow deer ''Dama'' is a genus of deer in the subfamily Cervinae, commonly referred to as fallow deer. Name The name fallow is derived from the deer's pale brown colour. The Latin word ''dāma'' or ''damma'', used for roe deer, gazelles, and antelopes ...

, the estate is home to

Lady Amherst's pheasant Lady Amherst's pheasant (''Chrysolophus amherstiae'') is a bird of the order Galliformes and the family Phasianidae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek ''khrusolophos'', "with golden crest". The English name and ''amherstiae'' commemorates Sara ...

(''Chrysolophus amherstiae'') as well as the more common pheasant.

History

In 1965 it was acquired by Luton Borough Council and opened as Putteridge Bury College of Education in 1966. Following Government cutbacks during the 1970s Putteridge Bury ended its brief life as a teacher training centre and 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 remains

University of Bedfordshire The University of Bedfordshire is a public research university with campuses in Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England. The University has roots from 1882, however, it gained university status in 1993 as the University of Luton. The Universi ...

property after the merger with the Bedford campus of De Montfort University in August 2006.

Footnotes

External links

* University of Bedfordshire
Putteridge Bury Campus History
Country houses in Hertfordshire University of Bedfordshire Listed buildings in Luton Defunct universities and colleges in England Teacher training colleges in the United Kingdom Grade II listed buildings in Hertfordshire Grade II listed houses Houses completed in 1911 Gardens in Hertfordshire Gardens by Gertrude Jekyll Works of Edwin Lutyens in England {{Hertfordshire-struct-stub

Mansion

Park

History

Footnotes

Further reading

External links