Description

BADMINTON C.P. BADMINTON PARK
ST 8082

12/24
Badminton House
17.9.52

G.V. I

Country House; seat of the Duke's Beaufort. Early C17 manor at the south-west,
now incorporated in a house of 2 main phases: late 1660's to 1690's, architect
unkhown; and 1730's to 1750's when the major works must be by Francis and
William Smith of Warwick for the east and west fronts and William Kent and his
assistant and successor Stephen Wright for the north front; other drawings by
James Gibbs for the pavilions; other architects and masons include Thomas
Townesend, probably of Oxford, Jeffrey Wyattville c.1810 and T.H. Wyatt and
D. Brandon in the mid - late C19. The interiors include work by Grinling
Gibbons, William Kent and Thomas Paty of Bristol. Rendered with freestone
dressings, and ashlar; roofs, mainly lead, concealed behind balustraded
parapets with urns on pedestals; wooden (rendered to resemble stone) and stone
modillioned cornice. North elevation. 3 storeys and basement; chanelled
rustication on ground floor. The main part of the house in 2:5:2 bays. The
centre 5 bays are slightly advanced and divided by giant order Corinthian
pilasters which support a pediment of 2 intersecting triangles; Diocletian
window in the apex and below are 2 bullseye windows divided by consoles supporting
urns. The outer bays are surmounted by wooden, rendered to resemble stone,
octagonal cupolas with domed tops, cornice and piers with inverted consoles.
Glazing bar sash windows, 9 panes over 6 : under scalloped lunettes on the ground
floor and pulvinated frieze and cornice on first floor. Central panelled door:
the porch has banded Tuscan columns under a pediment and entablature which has
portcullis metopes. Flanking the central part are 2 recessed wings of 4 storeys
and 6 bays; the outer 3 bays are advanced; glazing bar sash windows, plain band
over ground floor, linked segmental pediments to outer 3 bays of 2nd floor,
moulded cornice over 3rd floor. From the outer bays 2 single storey wings
project to the north: panelled parapet; 4 bays to the inner elevations, 3 bays
to the north, glazing bar sash windows. 3 bay screen walls with a balustraded
parapet then link the north wings to the outer square pavilions of James Gibbs:
banded Tuscan columns frame a blocked (open in north-west pavilion) archway which
has a Gibbs surround and a keystone which breaks forward to support a cornice;
above the cornice is a Diocletion window with a banded ball finial to either
side, all surmounted by a pediment; similar elevations to all sides. East
Elevation. 3 storeys and basement. 3:3 (advanced and surmounted by pediment
with enriched tympanum): 3 bays; string course over ground floor, linked
segmental pediments over first floor. Glazing bar sash windows. Central
doorcase with columns and segmental pediment. Flanking but set forward single
storey, 3 bay wings with panelled parapet and urn finials; panelled pilasters;
glazing bar sash windows. Projecting at right angles are single storey, 3 bay
wings, with a balustraded parapet and round headed cross windows, leading to the
outer Gibbs pavilions. West Elevation. 3 storeys, attic in high coped parapet,
and basement. 3:3 (slightly advanced and terminating in a pediment): 3 bays.
Glazing bar sash windows: 18 panes on ground floor; circular window in tympanum.
Panelled doors: porte cochere with rusticated piers and archways similar to the
Kent pavilions. To the south is the servants hall and kitchen range: single
storey, balustraded parapet; 4 bays of multi-pane glazing bar sash windows;
projecting 3 bay arcaded loggia. (Further south is the servants wing - q.v.).
Matching 4 bay wing to the north, but without the loggia, leads to the north-west
pavilion. Interior. Entrance Hall: William Kent 1746-48; Corinthian
columns; fine decorative plaster ceiling of shells and feathers, plaster wall
panels; marble fireplace; picture frames; doorcases with Corinthian columns,
pediment and amorini. Billiard Room: Jacobean marquetry overmantel of Ionic
columns, entablature, heraldry and figures in armour (from Troy House, Wales).
Duke's Sitting Room: Regency plasterwork and fireplace. Octagonal Waiting Hall:
by Thomas Paty of Bristol, c.1750; marble chimney piece; excellent plasterwork
ceiling and on the walls, Ionic pilasters; china cabinets. Oak Room: Oak
panelling of early C17 from Raglan Castle, via Troy House in 1895; lozenge
panels; finely carved overmantel and fireplace with carved terms, columns and
frieze; portcullis panelling and Jacobean-style plaster ceiling are late C19.
East Room: marble fireplace by William Kent, removed from Worcester Lodge.
Yellow Drawing Room: modillioned cornice, neo-classical fireplace and flock paper
of 1773. Red Room: modillioned cornice, ceiling with paterae; fireplace with
Angelica Kauffman painting; flock paper. Library: remodelled by Wyattville in
1811: anthemion and triglyph frieze; (?) 1730's overmantel carved with plants
and running guilloche bands. Drawing Room: remodelled by Wyattville c.1811:
panelled ceiling; fireplace of coloured and white marble, ormulu mounts,
Italian 1773,with caryatids and antique frieze. Dining Room: Grinling Gibbons
overmantel of 1683; columns, pilasters and overdoors in Gibbons manner by
Edward Poynton, 1732. Staircase Hall: open string oak staircase of twisted and
turned balusters and a moulded handrail by Thomas Eborall, 1730's; Doric and
Ionic column screens on the landings. First floor: suite of Chinese-style
rooms and bedroom decorated in Adam manner. Country Life 14.IX.07., 25.XI.39.,
2.XII.39., 9.XII.39., 4.IV.68. Verey, D. Buildings of England : Gloucestershire -
The Cotswolds, 1970. Gomme, A. (Forthcoming publication in the Journal of the
Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain).

Listing NGR: ST8062382914

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Badminton House at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q2628510

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  ENGLAND GUIDE TO POST WAR LISTED: A Guide to Post-war Listed Buildings
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)