Badminton, Chipping Sodbury, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. 

Pleasure grounds and park, begun in the late 17th and early 18th century by London and Wise, Bridgeman, and possibly John Mansfield; developed about 1746 by Kent, about 1750 by Thomas Wright and, in the later 18th century, reputedly by Lancelot Brown. The flower gardens and pleasure grounds have been developed since the 19th century.

NOTE
This entry is a summary. Because of the complexity of this site, the standard Register entry format would convey neither an adequate description nor a satisfactory account of the development of the landscape. The user is advised to consult the references given below for more detailed accounts. Many Listed Buildings exist within the site, not all of which have been here referred to. Descriptions of these are to be found in the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest produced by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

Badminton lies 7 kilometres north-east of junction 18 of the M4 motorway, about 9 kilometres east of Yate. Badminton House stands just north-east of the village of Great Badminton, which lies at the southern end of the park. The site, which occupies about 800 hectares, lies in undulating country and is bounded to the north by the A433 from Tetbury, to the south and west by minor roads, and to the east by agricultural land. The village of Little Badminton lies on the western edge of the site and Didmarton village stands at its north-east corner.

REFERENCES
Note: There is a wealth of published material about this site. The key references are cited below.

R Atkyns, The Ancient and Present State of Gloucestershire (1712), pl facing p 242

D Verey, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire The Cotswolds (1970), pp 254-8

D Stroud, Capability Brown (1975)

J Harris, The Artist and the Country House (1979), pp 125, 315, fig 47

J Sales, West Country Gardens (1981), pp 30-1

C Morris (ed), The Illustrated Journeys of Celia Fiennes 1685-c 1712 (1982), p 191

G Jackson-Stops, The Country House Garden: a Grand Tour (1987)

N Kingsley, The Country Houses of Gloucestershire, Volume One, 1500-1660 (1989), pp 53-5

N Kingsley, The Country Houses of Gloucestershire, Volume Two, 1660-1830 (1992), pp 55-61

Country Life, no 18 (5 May 1994), pp 64-7

Badminton, guidebook, (no date)

Description written: May 2000

Edited: March 2003