Badminton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Kingswood, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke. The southern p ...

, England. The only settlement in the parish is Badminton village, sometimes called Great Badminton to distinguish it from the hamlet of Little Badminton, about one mile to the north in Hawkesbury parish. The large country house called Badminton House is close to the north end of the village, and its surrounding deer park lies to the north and west.

History

The

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 recorded a manor at ''Madmintune'' with 24 households. In 1612 Edward Somerset, 4th Earl of Worcester, bought from Nicholas Boteler his manors of Great and Little Badminton. One century earlier the name ''Badimyncgtun'' was recorded, held by that family since 1275.

Badminton House

The village houses the

Duke of Beaufort Duke of Beaufort ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd D ...

's residence, Badminton House, which has been the principal seat of the Somerset family since the late 17th century. Badminton House also gives its name to the sport of

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

Amenities

The village has a small shop which also serves as a post office. The nearest pub, the Fox and Hounds, is in the nearby village of Acton Turville. The village is close to the A46 and A433 roads, and the B4040 passes south of it. The M4 motorway can be reached via the A46. The

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

in Acton Turville closed in 1968, but the line is still active. The nearest railway station is

Yate Yate is a town and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It lies just to the southwest of the Cotswolds, Cotswold Hills and is northeast of Bristol and from Bath, Somerset, Bath. Developing from a small village into a town from t ...

on the Bristol–Gloucester line. West of the village is Badminton Airfield. Badminton Horse Trials are held in early May each year in the parkland of Badminton House. Badminton Golf Club (now defunct) was founded in the late 1890s or early 1900s. The club closed in 1914.

Parish church

The parish church of St Michael and All Angels is attached to the Duke of Beaufort's residence. The current church was built in 1785 and serves as the principal burial place of the Somerset family. Nearly all Dukes and Duchesses are interred here.

Notable events

Field Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan, aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington in the

Peninsular War The Peninsular War (1808–1814) was fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Kingdom of Portugal, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French ...

and later commander of all the British forces in the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

was born, raised and buried in Badminton. He was the youngest son of the 5th Duke of Beaufort. During the Second World War, Queen Mary left Marlborough House in London to take up residence at Badminton House, staying for the duration of the war. She lived there with her niece Mary, Duchess of Beaufort, wife of the 10th Duke.

References

External links

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Badminton Parish Council
{{Authority control Villages in South Gloucestershire District Civil parishes in Gloucestershire