His father, Wilfrid Cracroft Ash, was the founder of the construction company Gilbert-Ash;[2] Maurice was noted for technological inventions in pre-stressed concrete.

[2] During the Second World War, Ash served in the British 23rd Armoured Brigade in North Africa, Italy and Greece.

In writing about the great private estates which followed the dissolution of the English monasteries, Ash argued that they had been failures in any civilizing sense.

Maurice & his wife Ruth bought The Sharpham Estate, at Ashprington near Totnes in Devon in 1962, and moved there with their young family.

They set about developing the Sharpham Estate as a rural community and adding value to farming products by turning the Jersey cows’ milk into cheese, as well as planting a vineyard and making the grapes into quality English wine.

The Trust continues today, offering mindfulness retreats, courses & events, whilst rewilding the Sharpham Estate, which is now designated as organic.

[2] A 100-acre (400,000 m2) farm there was run on Rudolf Steiner principles, and also vineyards, a Buddhist community and college, and the Robert Owen Foundation, a charity which provided agricultural experience for people with mental disabilities.