Badminton

Badminton House and the park

You see the house from the park, not from inside it. Edward Somerset, fourth Earl of Worcester, bought Great and Little Badminton from the Botelers in 1612; Charles II made Henry Somerset the first Duke of Beaufort in 1682, and the first duke and duchess carried out extensive works on the house, gardens and grounds. Later dukes employed William Kent, James Gibbs, Charles Bridgeman and Capability Brown. The game was named after the house, where army officers are thought to have played a version of battledore and shuttlecock in 1863. The public rights of way across the park, shown on South Gloucestershire Council's map, are open all year. Keep to them, keep dogs on short leads, and in autumn stay well away from the red deer, which rut then. Drones are banned.

The central avenue runs from the house for just under three miles to Worcester Lodge, which William Kent designed in 1746 as an entrance lodge with a dining room on its upper floor. He died before it was finished. It is listed Grade I, in Didmarton parish, and the view down the avenue to it is the estate's great set piece. Our guide to Cotswold houses and castles puts Badminton beside the houses you can go inside.

The church

St Michael and All Angels stands against the house and is listed Grade I. It is the dukes' mausoleum: a monument to the first duke by Grinling Gibbons, about 7.6m tall, which was moved here from St George's Chapel at Windsor in 1874. There are two marble monuments by Rysbrack to the second, third and fourth dukes, and carved monuments to the fifth to ninth dukes in the nave windows, with plaques to Lord Raglan of the Crimea and Lord Edward Somerset of Waterloo. Temple Moore added the oak choir stalls, organ case and altar rail in 1909. The church belongs to the parish, not the estate: the parochial church council looks after it and is raising money to restore it. It is in regular use, and the council says it opens for advertised services, on the garden days and by appointment through the Badminton Estate Office; otherwise it is closed, so arrange a visit with the Estate Office before you go.

Garden days and the horse trials

The gardens, by Russell Page and François Goffinet, open three times a year by timed ticket: in 2027 on Sunday 18 April, Sunday 13 June and Sunday 5 September, 10am to 4pm with last entry at 3pm. An adult ticket for 2027 is £12 in advance or £15 at the gate, seniors (60 and over) £9.50 or £12, children under 12 and carers free. Entry is by hourly arrival slot, and you can stay until closing. You see the formal beds east of the house, the South Garden, the walled kitchen garden and an exhibition of botanical art in the Old Hall, with a café in the Old Kitchen. Dogs are not allowed in the gardens or courtyard, except assistance dogs. Use GL9 1DJ for the Kennel Drive entrance, and if you come from the north go through Little Badminton and under the bridge rather than letting the satnav take you down a private drive through the park.

The Badminton Horse Trials are the other way in: five days of dressage, cross-country and show jumping in the park in early May, Wednesday 5 to Sunday 9 May in 2027 (dates the organisers call provisional). Everything is bought in advance, nothing at the gate, and the Saturday cross-country is the day the park is fullest. Our event page has the prices, the traffic plan and the rule on dogs.

A morning here

Start at the village hall on Haye's Lane and follow the Cotswolds National Landscape's Walks on Wheels route: 2.5 miles (4km), generally level on tarmac and park drives, rated for mobility scooters, past the park gates and a lodge, down an avenue of young trees to Park Pond and the horse trials arena, out to the lodge and gate at Little Badminton, past the dovecote and back by the church with the house through the trees. The extra loop round Little Badminton is steeper and not for hand-propelled chairs. The path closes during the horse trials. Finish at Badminton Stores for a coffee if it is open.

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Food and drink

There is no pub in Badminton. The estate reopened Badminton Stores on the High Street as the village shop in April 2026, giving its hours then as 8.30am to 5pm every day, and it sells coffee, sandwiches and cakes. The estate also took on the Fox and Hounds at Acton Turville, the next village south, in April 2026. The Bell at Old Sodbury, 3 miles west, is the nearest inn we list. On garden days the Old Kitchen café opens in the house.

When to come

Three garden Sundays and horse trials week are the only days the house end of the park opens, so most visits are walks on the rights of way, and the park is at its best in autumn colour, when the deer rut, and in spring. Avoid the first week of May unless you have a horse trials ticket: the roads carry AA signs and the park is given over to the event. The nearest quiet places to stay and eat are Chipping Sodbury and Tetbury.