Back To The Old House - Revisiting Baddesley Clinton

Cheese sandwiches at the ready! A National Trust outing was long overdue so today, we headed half an hour up the road to Warwickshire, otherwise known as "Shakespeare's County". However, charming as it is, it wasn't Stratford-on-Avon we were visiting, it was the glorious moated manor house of Baddesley Clinton which, according to my blog, we'd not visited for almost four years. 

 A home has stood at Baddesley Clinton since before the Norman Conquest. Set in the heart of the Forest of Arden, although the moat surrounding the manor house dates from the 13th Century, the house wasn't built until the middle of the 15th Century. Baddesley Clinton was acquired by Edward Ferrers in 1526 and the property remained in the Ferrers family for over 500 years. In 1980 it was bequeathed to the National Trust and opened to the public two years later.

Over the course of its history Baddesley Clinton has provided refuge for those seeking escape from the outside world, never more so than during The Reformation, when the house offered shelter to persecuted Catholic priests escaping the 1559 Act of Uniformity. Harbouring priests was seen as an act of treason and owner Henry Ferrers faced certain death if it was discovered that he'd rented out the house to the ardently Catholic daughters of Lord Vaux who'd installed priest hides within the house to hide Catholics. As the centuries passed, the house developed to suit the needs of the occupants.

As the centuries passed, the house developed to suit the needs of the occupants.

Some of the most radical changes happened in the late 19th Century. By then the house was occupied by a group of Bohemians collectively known as The Quartet. The story goes that Rebecca Dulibella Orpen lived in County Cork with her aunt, Georgiana Chatterton and was courted by the wealthy Edward Dering. Her 53 year old aunt was somewhat deaf and when Edward asked for her niece's hand in marriage, Georgiana misheard him, thought that he was proposing to her and accepted. Apparently very chivalrous, Edward didn't correct the mistake and married her despite the 25 year age gap. 

Marmion (what a brilliant name) Ferrers, the last in the line of direct descendants, married Rebecca in 1867 and all four moved into Baddesley Clinton. Both couples remained childless and inseparable, devoting their lives to the restoration and refurbishment of Baddesley Clinton & to painting, writing and religion. Georgiana died in 1876 and Marmion in 1884 leaving Edward to marry his true love, Rebecca, in 1885.

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The painting above, by Rebecca , shows the quartet in The Great Hall at Baddesley Clinton. 

Rebecca was a talented artist who'd learnt her skills from her aunt. Her work is displayed throughout the house. She painted up until her death at the age of 93.

Baddesley Clinton is welcoming and cosy, with lots of the personal possessions of the Ferrers family on display. We loved the creaky floorboards and the strong smell of beeswax. The foundations are sandstone and impervious to the damp so the house isn't affected by the moat which surrounds it. Incidentally the moat is believed to have been created as a form of fire break due to the close proximity of the Forest of Arden.

In 1438, the estate was acquired by an influential lawyer, John Brome. Brome supported the wrong side in the Wars of the Roses and was stripped of his Court appointments. He quarrelled with John Herthill, steward to the ‘Kingmaker’ Earl of Warwick and in 1468 was murdered by him in the porch of the Whitefriars church in London. Nicholas, Brome’s second son, avenged his father’s murder by killing Herthill in a duel in 1471. He received a lenient punishment: to pay for a priest to say daily prayers for the souls of both his father and John Herthill. 

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Nicholas inherited Baddesley on his mother’s death in 1483, along with the right to appoint the parish priest. In 1478 he appointed William Foster to the position. Seven years later Nicholas returned home unexpectedly to find Foster in Baddesley’s parlour, stroking his wife under her chin. He flew into a rage, drew his sword and killed the priest. For centuries, the stain below the fireplace was rumoured to be Foster's blood.

An illustrated article on Baddesley Clinton appeared in the first edition of Country Life in January 1897 where writer John Leyland described the house  as A truly quaint and beautiful domestic survival of the English country life of the olden time. Mailed knights have dwelt within their walls, fugitives in troublous times have fled to their secret chambers, cavaliers have knocked at their oaken doors......

About seven miles from Warwick… all amid the silent woods, its grey walls and timber gables reflected in a lake-like moat, stands the old Hall of Baddesley Clinton. Its aspect carries you back hundreds of years. You will readily, if so disposed, conjure up an old-world history when you look at it, and if you have any antiquarian interest – and who has not at least a tinge of it? – you can easily forget for the time that you are living in the Nineteenth century.

We walked to St Michael's, Baddesley's medieval church. When Nicolas Brome died in 1517 his will requested that he be buried ‘Within the Church door as the people may tread upon mee as they come into the church.’ His body was buried upright so that his soul would never rest. 

We were happy to spot clumps of snowdrops dotted throughout the ancient churchyard. A reminder that Spring will be here before too long. 

Baddesley Clinton, Riding Lane, Warwickshire, B93 0DQ

Garden open daily (except 24 - 25 December) from 9am - 4pm (house from 10.30am, ticket only)

Thanks for reading, see you soon!