Babington House
Encyclopedia
Babington House is a Grade II* listed manor house
, located in the village
of Babington
, between Radstock
and Frome
, in the county of Somerset
, England
Converted to a private members club and hotel
by Nick Jones
, it is currently owned by Soho House Ltd
, but appears to have been largely demolished to make way for the house around 1705.
The manor was sold by Thomas and Mary Mankham to Joan Elcode, a widow, in a deed dated Easter 1572. The estate then contained 7 messuage
s, one cottage, 10 tofts, 1 water mill, 10 gardens, 14 orchards, 300 acres (1,214,058 m²) of land, 120 acres (485,623 m²) of meadow, 160 acres (647,498 m²) of pasture, 20 acres (80,937 m²) of wood, 120 acres (485,623 m²) of furze and 4s annual rent and 1 lb of pepper.
The estate passed through several hands until it was forfeit to the Crown in 1593. By the late 17th century, the manor belonged to Thomas Pacey who left it to his sister, Margaret. She was married to a Bristol
alderman, William Crabb, and subsequently passed the manor on to their eldest daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Henry Mompesson of Corston, Wiltshire
(1633–1715) who was Sheriff of Somerset in 1698.
The current house was built around 1705 for Henry Mompesson, probably on the foundations of an earlier building, and has since been extensively altered and extended, including in 1790, possibly by John Pinch the elder, for Captain Charles Knatchbull, who had inherited it via Mrs Elizabeth Long the Mompessons' niece. Babington was inherited by successive members of the Knatchbull family until 1952, when the House and immediate grounds were sold.
The grounds include the Grade I listed Church of St Margaret
.
who had founded the Soho House club
in Soho, London bought the property. He converted it to a hotel, club and wedding venue for the London members of Soho House club
, as well as new Somerset members. The property is also part-owned by actor Neil Morrissey
.
In that year, Nick Jones
was cautioned by police after eleven Polish illegal immigrants were found working at the hotel.
.
Within the grounds are a chain of five informal pools situated in a shallow valley approximately 70 metres (230 ft) west of the House. The pools are surrounded by mixed specimen trees and shrubberies. A walk on the western side of the pools leads to a kitchen garden south-west of the House.
has been designated by English Heritage
as a Grade II* listed building. The 18th-century stable block and coach house have now been made into three separate dwellings. The grounds also contain a listed ice house
and two sets of gates, which are Grade II listed.
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
, located in the village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
of Babington
Babington, Somerset
Babington is a small village between Radstock and Frome, Somerset, England, which has now largely disappeared.-History:The parish of Babington was part of the Kilmersdon Hundred,...
, between Radstock
Radstock
Radstock is a town in Somerset, England, south west of Bath, and north west of Frome. It is within the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset and had a population of 5,275 according to the 2001 Census...
and Frome
Frome
Frome is a town and civil parish in northeast Somerset, England. Located at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, the town is built on uneven high ground, and centres around the River Frome. The town is approximately south of Bath, east of the county town, Taunton and west of London. In the 2001...
, in the county of Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
Converted to a private members club and hotel
Hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. The provision of basic accommodation, in times past, consisting only of a room with a bed, a cupboard, a small table and a washstand has largely been replaced by rooms with modern facilities, including en-suite bathrooms...
by Nick Jones
Nick Jones (entrepreneur)
Nicholas Keith Arthur Jones is an English entrepreneur. He is the owner of the Babington House hotel and health club and founder and chief executive of Soho House UK Ltd, which specialises in luxury private members’ club venues with restaurants, cinemas, health spas and bedrooms, with some aspects...
, it is currently owned by Soho House Ltd
Soho House (club)
Soho House is a well-known private members club patronized by those in the arts and media. The original location is at Greek Street, Soho, London, England . There are now nine 'houses' worldwide, found in Babington, Notting Hill, Chiswick, Shoreditch, Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, West...
History
The village of Babington dates from medieval timesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, but appears to have been largely demolished to make way for the house around 1705.
The manor was sold by Thomas and Mary Mankham to Joan Elcode, a widow, in a deed dated Easter 1572. The estate then contained 7 messuage
Messuage
In law, the term messuage equates to a dwelling-house and includes outbuildings, orchard, curtilage or court-yard and garden. At one time messuage supposedly had a more extensive meaning than that conveyed by the words house or site, but such distinction no longer survives.A capital messuage is the...
s, one cottage, 10 tofts, 1 water mill, 10 gardens, 14 orchards, 300 acres (1,214,058 m²) of land, 120 acres (485,623 m²) of meadow, 160 acres (647,498 m²) of pasture, 20 acres (80,937 m²) of wood, 120 acres (485,623 m²) of furze and 4s annual rent and 1 lb of pepper.
The estate passed through several hands until it was forfeit to the Crown in 1593. By the late 17th century, the manor belonged to Thomas Pacey who left it to his sister, Margaret. She was married to a Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
alderman, William Crabb, and subsequently passed the manor on to their eldest daughter, Elizabeth, wife of Henry Mompesson of Corston, Wiltshire
Corston, Wiltshire
Corston is a small village on the A429 road in Wiltshire, England - approximately 3 miles south of the town of Malmesbury, Wiltshire. The Gauze Brook, a tributary of the Bristol Avon passes through the village....
(1633–1715) who was Sheriff of Somerset in 1698.
The current house was built around 1705 for Henry Mompesson, probably on the foundations of an earlier building, and has since been extensively altered and extended, including in 1790, possibly by John Pinch the elder, for Captain Charles Knatchbull, who had inherited it via Mrs Elizabeth Long the Mompessons' niece. Babington was inherited by successive members of the Knatchbull family until 1952, when the House and immediate grounds were sold.
The grounds include the Grade I listed Church of St Margaret
Church of St Margaret, Babington
The Church of St Margaret within the grounds of Babington House in Babington, Somerset, England is a Grade I listed building.There may have been a Norman building on the site before the current church, which is thought to date from 1748 and was probably built by John Strahan or William Halfpenny,...
.
Hotel and private members club
In 1998, Nick JonesNick Jones (entrepreneur)
Nicholas Keith Arthur Jones is an English entrepreneur. He is the owner of the Babington House hotel and health club and founder and chief executive of Soho House UK Ltd, which specialises in luxury private members’ club venues with restaurants, cinemas, health spas and bedrooms, with some aspects...
who had founded the Soho House club
Soho House (club)
Soho House is a well-known private members club patronized by those in the arts and media. The original location is at Greek Street, Soho, London, England . There are now nine 'houses' worldwide, found in Babington, Notting Hill, Chiswick, Shoreditch, Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, West...
in Soho, London bought the property. He converted it to a hotel, club and wedding venue for the London members of Soho House club
Soho House (club)
Soho House is a well-known private members club patronized by those in the arts and media. The original location is at Greek Street, Soho, London, England . There are now nine 'houses' worldwide, found in Babington, Notting Hill, Chiswick, Shoreditch, Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, West...
, as well as new Somerset members. The property is also part-owned by actor Neil Morrissey
Neil Morrissey
Neil Anthony Morrissey is an English actor, media personality and businessman. He is best known for his role as Tony in Men Behaving Badly....
.
In that year, Nick Jones
Nick Jones (entrepreneur)
Nicholas Keith Arthur Jones is an English entrepreneur. He is the owner of the Babington House hotel and health club and founder and chief executive of Soho House UK Ltd, which specialises in luxury private members’ club venues with restaurants, cinemas, health spas and bedrooms, with some aspects...
was cautioned by police after eleven Polish illegal immigrants were found working at the hotel.
Notable weddings held at Babington House
- Fat Boy Slim and Zoe BallZoë BallZoë Louise Ball is an English television and radio personality, most famous for becoming the first female host of the BBC Radio 1 breakfast show and for her earlier work presenting the 1990s children's show, Live & Kicking.-TV career:The daughter of the children's TV presenter Johnny Ball and his...
, August 1999. - Nick JonesNick Jones (entrepreneur)Nicholas Keith Arthur Jones is an English entrepreneur. He is the owner of the Babington House hotel and health club and founder and chief executive of Soho House UK Ltd, which specialises in luxury private members’ club venues with restaurants, cinemas, health spas and bedrooms, with some aspects...
and Kirsty YoungKirsty YoungKirsty Jackson Young is a Scottish television presenter and radio presenter. She is the main presenter of Crimewatch and Desert Island Discs. She is married to millionaire club owner Nick Jones.- Career :...
, 30 September 1999 - Nirpal Singh DhaliwalNirpal Singh DhaliwalNirpal Singh Dhaliwal is a British journalist and writer.His parents were first-generation Punjabi immigrants. Dhaliwal was raised a non-practising Sikh and state-school educated before going on to Nottingham University to read English and American literature...
and Liz JonesLiz JonesElizabeth Ann Jones, known as Liz Jones , is a British journalist and writer.She originally followed a career in fashion journalism, but her work has broadened into confessional writing. Jones divides opinion...
, 2002 - John Thomson and Samantha Sharp (reception only), May 2005
- Natasha KaplinskyNatasha KaplinskyNatasha Margaret Kaplinsky is a British newsreader and television presenter, currently employed by ITV having previously worked for Channel 5, Sky News and the BBC...
and Justin Bower, 21 August 2005. - Lucy BenjaminLucy Benjamin-Career:Born Lucy Jane Baker in Reading, Berkshire, England, she took the stage name of Benjamin after her brother. Benjamin trained at the Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead. Her first acting role was as a child actor in Doctor Who in 1983 playing a young version of the character Nyssa...
and Richard Taggart, 30 March 2006. - Angela GriffinAngela GriffinAngela Griffin is a British actress and television presenter.-Acting career:She appeared in the popular long-running British soap operas Emmerdale and most famously in Coronation Street as Fiona Middleton from 1993 to 1998...
and Jason Milligan, 31 July 2006 - Clive StandenClive StandenClive Standen is an English actor best known for playing Sir Gawain in the Starz series Camelot as well as 'Archer', the brother of Robin Hood in the BBC TV series Robin Hood and Private Carl Harris in the British sci-fi show Doctor Who.-Acting:Standen's first experience of stunts, horse...
and wife Francesca, 2007. - Richard Bacon and Rebecca McFarlane (reception only), 17 January 2008
- Danny GoffeyDanny GoffeyDaniel Robert Goffey Daniel Robert Goffey Daniel Robert Goffey (born 7 February 1974 in Slough, Buckinghamshire (now Berkshire) is an English musician and singer-songwriter best known as the drummer and backing vocalist for the English Britpop band, Supergrass...
and Pearl LowePearl Lowe-External links:*...
, 4 December 2008. - Amanda HoldenAmanda HoldenAmanda Louise Holden is an English actress and presenter. Among her roles are Mia Bevan in Cutting It, Sarah Trevanion in Wild at Heart, and the title role in Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award...
and Chris HughesChris Hughes (record producer)Chris Hughes is a music producer and a former drummer for Adam and the Ants....
, 10 December 2008. - Jenni FalconerJenni FalconerJennifer 'Jenni' Falconer is a British television presenter.-Early life:After her family relocated to the South of England when she was seven, Falconer moved to Leeds in 1994 to study Spanish and Italian. Whilst studying at university, she also launched her television career...
and James Midgeley, 3 June 2010 - Damien DuffDamien DuffDamien Anthony Duff is an Irish footballer who plays for Premier League team Fulham and the Republic of Ireland national football team. With Ireland he has participated in the 2002 FIFA World Cup and helped his team qualify for UEFA Euro 2012...
and wife Elaine (reception only), 17 June 2010
Grounds
To the north of the House are lawns planted with 19th-century specimen deciduous and coniferous trees and ornamental shrubberies. From here there are views north and north-east across the park beyond the former north-west drive towards the grounds of Ammerdown House, KilmersdonAmmerdown House, Kilmersdon
Ammerdown House in Kilmersdon, Somerset, England was built in 1788. It has been designated as Grade I listed building.It was built as a country house with stables and an adjacent formal garden within landscaped parkland in emparked landscape by James Wyatt for Thomas Samuel Jolliffe...
.
Within the grounds are a chain of five informal pools situated in a shallow valley approximately 70 metres (230 ft) west of the House. The pools are surrounded by mixed specimen trees and shrubberies. A walk on the western side of the pools leads to a kitchen garden south-west of the House.
Architecture
The house of mainly Georgian architectureGeorgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
has been designated by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
as a Grade II* listed building. The 18th-century stable block and coach house have now been made into three separate dwellings. The grounds also contain a listed ice house
Icehouse (building)
Ice houses were buildings used to store ice throughout the year, prior to the invention of the refrigerator. Some were underground chambers, usually man-made, close to natural sources of winter ice such as freshwater lakes, but many were buildings with various types of insulation.During the...
and two sets of gates, which are Grade II listed.