Badminton House

Badminton House

A country house and seat of the Duke of Beaufort, built in two main phases around an early 17th-century manor at the south-west. The principal construction dates to the late 1660s through 1690s (architect unknown), followed by major works from the 1730s to 1750s. The architects responsible for the east and west fronts are believed to be Francis and William Smith of Warwick. William Kent and his assistant and successor Stephen Wright designed the north front. James Gibbs provided drawings for the pavilions. Other architects and craftsmen involved include Thomas Townesend (probably of Oxford), Jeffrey Wyatville around 1810, and T.H. Wyatt and D. Brandon in the mid to late 19th century.

The exterior is rendered with freestone dressings and ashlar. Roofs are mainly lead, concealed behind balustraded parapets with urns on pedestals. A wooden cornice, rendered to resemble stone, with modillioned details completes the detailing.

The north elevation displays three storeys and a basement, with channelled rustication on the ground floor. The main section is arranged 2:5:2 bays, with the central five bays slightly advanced and divided by giant order Corinthian pilasters supporting a pediment of two intersecting triangles. A Diocletian window occupies the apex, with two bullseye windows below, divided by consoles supporting urns. The outer bays are topped with wooden octagonal cupolas, rendered to resemble stone, with domed tops, cornices, and piers with inverted consoles. The windows are glazing bar sashes with 9 panes over 6. On the ground floor, windows sit beneath scalloped lunettes. A pulvinated frieze and cornice runs across the first floor. The central panelled door has a porch with banded Tuscan columns beneath a pediment and entablature featuring portcullis metopes. Two recessed wings of four storeys and six bays flank the central section, with the outer three bays advanced. These wings have glazing bar sash windows, plain bands above the ground floor, linked segmental pediments on the second floor outer bays, and moulded cornices over the third floor. From the outer bays, two single storey wings project northward, each with a panelled parapet. Three bay screen walls with balustraded parapets link the north wings to the outer square pavilions designed by James Gibbs. These pavilions feature banded Tuscan columns framing archways with Gibbs surrounds and keystones that break forward to support cornices. Above the cornices sit Diocletian windows with banded ball finials to either side, all surmounted by pediments. All elevations of the pavilions are similarly treated.

The east elevation comprises three storeys and a basement, arranged 3:3:3 bays, with the central section advanced and topped by a pediment with enriched tympanum. String courses run over the ground floor, with linked segmental pediments above the first floor. Glazing bar sash windows light the elevation. A central doorcase features columns and a segmental pediment. Flanking single storey, three bay wings project forward, each with a panelled parapet and urn finials, panelled pilasters, and glazing bar sash windows. Single storey, three bay wings project at right angles, incorporating balustraded parapets and round-headed cross windows, leading toward the outer Gibbs pavilions.

The west elevation has three storeys, an attic within a high coped parapet, and a basement, arranged 3:3:3 bays with the central section slightly advanced and terminated by a pediment. Glazing bar sash windows include 18 panes on the ground floor, and a circular window sits in the tympanum. Panelled doors include a porte cochere with rusticated piers and archways similar to the Kent pavilions. South of this rises the servants hall and kitchen range: single storey with balustraded parapet, four bays of multi-pane glazing bar sash windows, and a projecting three bay arcaded loggia. A matching four bay wing to the north, without the loggia, leads to the north-west pavilion.

The interior contains numerous significant decorative schemes. The Entrance Hall, designed by William Kent in 1746-48, features Corinthian columns, a fine decorative plaster ceiling of shells and feathers, plaster wall panels, a marble fireplace, picture frames, and doorcases with Corinthian columns, pediments, and amorini. The Billiard Room displays a Jacobean marquetry overmantel with Ionic columns, entablature, heraldry, and figures in armour, originally from Troy House in Wales. The Duke's Sitting Room contains Regency plasterwork and fireplace. The Octagonal Waiting Hall, designed by Thomas Paty of Bristol around 1750, features a marble chimney piece and excellent plasterwork on the ceiling and walls, with Ionic pilasters and china cabinets. The Oak Room contains early 17th-century oak panelling from Raglan Castle, introduced via Troy House in 1895, with lozenge panels and a finely carved overmantel and fireplace with carved terms, columns, and frieze. Portcullis panelling and a Jacobean-style plaster ceiling are late 19th-century additions. The East Room has a marble fireplace by William Kent, removed from Worcester Lodge. The Yellow Drawing Room features a modillioned cornice, neo-classical fireplace, and flock paper dated 1773. The Red Room has a modillioned cornice, a ceiling with paterae, and a fireplace with a painting by Angelica Kauffman, along with flock paper. The Library was remodelled by Wyatville in 1811 with an anthemion and triglyph frieze and an overmantel, possibly from the 1730s, carved with plants and running guilloche bands. The Drawing Room was remodelled by Wyatville around 1811, featuring a panelled ceiling and a fireplace of coloured and white marble with ormulu mounts, dated to Italy 1773, and decorated with caryatids and antique frieze. The Dining Room contains an overmantel by Grinling Gibbons dated 1683, with columns, pilasters, and overdoors in the Gibbons manner executed by Edward Poynton in 1732. The Staircase Hall displays an open string oak staircase with twisted and turned balusters and a moulded handrail by Thomas Eborall, dating to the 1730s, along with Doric and Ionic column screens on the landings. The first floor includes a suite of Chinese-style rooms and a bedroom decorated in the Adam manner.