Badminton

The following is from the Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. For the most up-to-date Register entry, please visit The National Heritage List for England (NHLE):

13th - 16th Century

Badminton belonged from the mid-13th century to the Boteler family, who continued as successful gentry into the 16th century.

17th Century

By the early 17th century, however, Nicholas Boteler was in financial difficulties and in 1612 was obliged to sell Badminton to Edward, fourth Earl of Worcester. At this time the house was a large, irregular, courtyard building. Edward settled the estate on his younger son Thomas Somerset, who probably remodelled the house to that shown on Kip's early 18th century engraving (Atkyns 1712). Thomas' daughter Elizabeth left Badminton to her cousin Henry, Lord Herbert in 1655.

Henry, the son and grandson of fervent Royalists, became Marquess of Worcester in 1667 and was created first Duke of Beaufort in 1682. The Somerset estates were seized by Parliament, but when Henry came of age in 1650 he set about repairing the family fortune. He became an MP and a personal friend of Cromwell and, by the time he inherited Badminton in 1655, he had won back most of the family estates. In 1657 he married Lady Beauchamp, a wealthy widow, and at the Restoration transferred his support to Charles II. He obtained licences to enlarge the originally modest park from both Cromwell (in 1658) and Charles II (in 1664) and laid out formal gardens around the house. By the end of the 17th century, the house had become the centre of a vast formal landscape, possibly designed by John Mansfield, with avenues radiating out across the countryside. Around the house was a formal garden with parterres, topiary, terraces, walks, and fountains. Henry Wise, the royal gardener, influenced the design.

The Marquess became a Privy Councillor and Lord President of the Council of Wales in 1672 before being awarded a dukedom for his loyalty to the Crown. He held Bristol against the Duke of Monmouth in 1685 and against William of Orange in 1688, after which he remained in political retirement until his death in 1700.

Henry had the present Badminton House (listed grade I) built from 1664 to 1691, perhaps to his own design (Kingsley 1992). The main façade, nearly twice as long as that of the previous house, was to the north. The east range was largely new but the south and part of the west ranges were retained from the earlier house.

18th Century

The second Duke made few changes to the house during his reign (1700-1714) but built a lodge in the park at Swangrove. The third Duke, however, who held the title from 1726 to 1745, was responsible for a major remodelling of Badminton, including the reduction of the five-storey north front to three storeys and the rebuilding of the west range. Francis Smith of Warwick was commissioned to undertake the work. The third Duke, advised by Charles Bridgeman, also began to deformalise the gardens. After the third Duke's death, his brother, the fourth Duke, continued to remodel Badminton, but employed the architect William Kent, who dramatically simplified the gardens and designed Worcester Lodge. The fourth Duke (d 1756) also employed Thomas Wright to design various garden buildings. By 1768, the park had more or less reached its present form, though Lancelot Brown is said to have carried out further work in the park, following Kent's landscaping (Stroud 1975).

Badminton remained in the Beaufort family and is still in private hands today (2023).

Type

Park

Purpose

Ornamental

Principal Building

Domestic / Residential

Survival

Extant

Hectares

800

Open to the public

Yes

Civil Parish

Badminton