Tring Park
The Ridgeway travels along King Charles Ride on the south eastern edge of Tring Park. The Park is a great place to visit to enjoy the woods, the chalk grassland and the fine views from the escarpment of Ivinghoe Beacon in the distance where, of course, The Ridgeway reaches its end.
Recorded in the Domesday Book there have been many owners of this estate since, the most famous being the Rothschild family who bought it in 1830.
When they were there the parkland was grazed by some exotic animals including kangaroos, zebras, cassowaries and emus. The edible dormouse first saw freedom in the British Isles when it escaped in the Park.
In 1682 Christopher Wren designed Tring Manor house, and the existing Mansion north of the A41(M) is based upon this. The formal landscape of the Park was created in the late 17th and early 18th century by Charles Bridgeman and James Gibbs. The classic 18th century landscape design combines gently undulating grassland, carefully placed tree groups and a backdrop of dense woodland on the steep scarp slope. The quiet woodland tracks and the Summer House and Obelisk add to the character.
In 1974 the park was cut in two by the A41(M) and later, in 1989, the southern section of the park was sold to Whitbread's who hoped to develop a golf and hotel complex. However planning permission for this development was turned down and the local council, Dacorum Borough Council, purchased the site. The Park has since been leased to the Woodland Trust with the aim of providing informal, low key countryside recreation for the public whilst at the same time maintaining the ecological, landscape and historical value of the site.
The Park has two Sites of Special Scientific Interest, two listed buildings and is a Grade II Listed Landscape in the Register of Parks and Gardens of Historic Interest in England.