Baddesley Clinton

Baddesley Clinton es una casa señorial rodeada de foso , situada a unos 13 km al noroeste de la ciudad de Warwick , en el pueblo de Baddesley Clinton , Warwickshire, Inglaterra. La casa probablemente data del siglo XIII, cuando se despejaron grandes extensiones del Bosque de Arden para convertirlas en tierras de cultivo. El sitio es un Monumento Antiguo Protegido ^{[ 1 ]} y la casa es un edificio catalogado de Grado I. ^{[ 2 ]} La casa, el parque y los jardines son propiedad del National Trust y están abiertos al público; se encuentran en una parroquia civil del mismo nombre. 

La historia de Baddesley Clinton comienza con un sajón llamado Badde, aunque la ortografía varía, que resguardaba el ganado en un claro del bosque conocido como leah o ley. De ahí proviene Badde's Ley. ^{[ 3 ]}

Tras la conquista normanda que comenzó en 1066, Baddesley fue concedida a Geoffrey de Wirce. Posteriormente, pasó a manos de Walter de Bisege y permaneció en su familia hasta que su bisnieta Mazera heredó la propiedad, convirtiéndose esta en propiedad de la familia Clinton a través de su matrimonio con Sir Thomas Clinton en 1290. Fue entonces cuando la finca pasó a ser conocida como Baddesley Clinton. ^{[ 4 ]}

En 1438, John Brome, subtesorero de Inglaterra , compró la mansión , que pasó a su hijo, Nicholas Brome (fallecido en 1517), quien reconstruyó la cercana iglesia parroquial dedicada a San Miguel, como penitencia por haber asesinado al párroco, crimen que se cree que se cometió dentro de la casa. La casa de este período estaba equipada con troneras y posiblemente un puente levadizo sobre el foso. Cuando Nicholas Brome murió en 1517, la casa pasó a su hija, quien en 1500 se había casado con Sir Edward Ferrers, sheriff de Warwickshire .

Henry Ferrers (1549-1633), conocido como "El Anticuario", a quien se le atribuye la construcción del gran salón , realizó numerosas ampliaciones en Baddesley Clinton, entre ellas, la tradición de instalar vidrieras que representan el escudo de armas de la familia . Dichas vidrieras se conservan en muchas habitaciones. En el siglo XVIII, el gran salón fue reconstruido en ladrillo y se amplió el ala este, aunque con gran esmero para mantener el estilo del edificio original.

The house was inhabited in the 1860s by the novelists Georgiana Chatterton and her second husband Edward Heneage Dering, who both converted to Roman Catholicism.^[5] The house's Catholic chapel was rebuilt, and the house was generally refurbished. Major interior changes took place up until the 1940s, with the first floor outside the chapel being completely altered. The interior comprises a great hall, parlour and library, with other rooms, and contains much 16th century carving and furniture and 19th century accessories used by later inhabitants. The house is surrounded by extensive formal gardens and ponds. Many of the farm buildings were built in the 18th century.

The house remained in the Ferrers family until 1940, when it was purchased by Thomas Walker, a relative of the family who changed his name to Ferrers. His son, who inherited it in 1970, sold the estate in 1980 to the National Trust, which now manages it.^[6]

The Ferrers appear to have remained Roman Catholicrecusants after the Reformation, along with many other members of the Warwickshiregentry. They sheltered Catholic priests, who were under threat of a death sentence if discovered, and made special arrangements to hide and protect them. Several priest holes were built, secret passages to hide people in the event of a search by the authorities. One such priest hole is in the roof and is reputed to hold six people. A second is hidden in an old privy. Fugitives were able to slide down a rope from the first floor through the old garderobe shaft into the house's sewers, which run the length of the building, which could hold six or seven people with their clothes and the equipment required for a Mass. These priest holes are said to have been built by Saint Nicholas Owen, a lay-brother of the Jesuits who constructed many masterful hides, notably at nearby Harvington Hall. He was eventually caught and tortured to death by the Protestant English government. A third space off the Moat Room, is simply a small room with a door hidden in the wood panelling and there is no real evidence that this is a hide.

The priest holes came into use at least once, in 1591 when a conference of Jesuit priests was raided by local authorities. The search is described in the Autobiography of Fr John Gerard, who was hiding during the search. The hides proved effective as no-one was caught.^[7]

Parkland to the north and south-east of the house is today meadow with scattered trees, and ornamental trees south of the house. Pleasure grounds to the south-west lead down to a small lake. A formal walled garden, used in the past as a kitchen garden, lies to the south of the house; the central courtyard of the house is also laid out as a garden. The park and gardens are designated Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.^[8]

In 1986 a number of exterior and interior shots of Baddesley Clinton were used by Granada Television for its Sherlock Holmes series in the episode "The Adventure of the Musgrave Ritual". In October 2016 the house was the venue for BBC One's Antiques Roadshow.^[9]

Although described as "Baddesley Clinton" on the screen, the location used for the outdoor filming of the first episode of the 2017 BBC One miniseries Gunpowder depicting events surrounding the 1603 Main Plot raid was not actually Baddesley Clinton, but was Fountains Hall near Ripon in Yorkshire.^{[10][11][12][13]}

• Baddesley Clinton information at the National Trust
• photos of Baddesley Clinton and surrounding area on geograph
• Warwickshire County Council Timetrail

52°20′25″N1°42′34″W / 52.34032°N 1.70934°W / 52.34032; -1.70934