Badminton, Gloucestershire: THE SEAT OF THE DUKE OF BEAUFORT. THIS magnificent structure, one of the noblest in England, was founded by the princely spirit of one of the house of Somerset, and since the destruction of the ancient family seat at Ragland Castle, in Monmouthshire, which was reduced to bare walls in the time of the civil war, has ever been the principal residence of the head of the noble family. Previously, Badminton Castle was the seat and estate of the Botelers, who held it at a very early period of history. Ralph, the son of Maurice Boteler, of Badminton, who lived in the reign of Henry III., married Maud, the daughter and heiress of William Pantolp, Baron of Wem, and in her right succeeded to the Barony of Wem, and had summons to parliament accordingly; he died in possession not only of this estate, but of the whole Hundred of Grimbald's Ash, in 1274. The Barony of Wem was extinct in 1365, but the estate at Badminton continued in this family for nearly four hundred years. Nicholas, the son of William Boteler, was Lord of the Manor of Badminton in the year 1608, of which Nicholas Boteler, Esq. the estate was purchased by the Honourable Sir Thomas Somerset, K. B., third son of Edward, fourth Earl of Worcester, who in 1626 was created Viscount Somerset, of Cashel in the county of Tipperary, Ireland. His lordship by his wife Eleanor, daughter of Viscount Buttevant, left an only daughter and heiress, Elizabeth, who died unmarried, and was buried at Ragland. She gave Badminton to Henry, Lord Herbert, afterwards created Duke of Beaufort. The principal front of the Mansion, which is represented in Plate II., is a stately elevation, constructed in the Palladian style: it is of great extent, and consists of a rustic basement story, in which is the entrance, of the Tuscan order; two columns, rusticated on the shafts, support a corresponding entablature and pediment. The centre division of the building has an air of much grandeur, and is adorned by a colonnade of the Composite order, surmounted by an attic; in a pediment, is a circular cartouche shield sculptured with the arms of Somerset, ducally crowned, which are, Quarterly, France and England, within a border, componé, his Grace deriving his descent from a branch of the House of Plantagenet. The wings, which extend considerably upon each side, are designed with more simplicity, and give a noble effect to the architectural elevation, which is terminated by Tuscan archways to the Stables and Offices. Over each extremity of the centre is a cupola and vane. Plate II., is a distant view from the Park, where the Mansion is seen to the fullest advantage; the scenery around, though neither grand nor romantic, is of the most pleasing character, greatly aiding the magnificent appearance of the building. Internally, this seat is splendid in its decorations; the rooms are spacious, and elegantly ornamented. In the great Dining-room is a profusion of admirable carving in wood, by Grinlin Gibbons; and in the Picture Gallery, a fine series of family portraits; a portrait of William Shippen, the satirical poet; and a curious representation of the different sovereigns of Europe by various animals, painted by Salvator Rosa. BADMINTON, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. In the year 1702, Queen Anne, visiting the University of Oxford, and going thence to Bath, the Duke of Beaufort met her Majesty and retinue not far from Cirencester on August 29th, accompanied by great numbers of gentlemen, clergy, and freeholders of the county, and conducted the queen to Badminton, where a very splendid entertainment was prepared by his Grace for her majesty, who was very well pleased with it, as well as Prince George of Denmark, her royal consort. The Park is very extensive, being above nine miles in circumference. It is of an oblong form, about three miles long, and nearly two miles wide, situated in the Hundred of Grimbald's Ash, about five miles east from Sodbury, and bordering upon Wiltshire, on the west, about seven miles from Malmsbury. It contains some very fine woods and beautiful drives. The parish church, which formerly belonged to the Abbey of Pershore, was rebuilt at the expense of the late Duke of Beaufort, in the year 1785, by Evans, Architect. It stands within the Park, a little south-east of the Mansion; its tower with pinnacles is seen rising over the house. The interior of the church is very handsome; the pavement of the chancel is of rich Florentine Mosaic, representing the arms of Somerset. On the south side of the Altar is a superb Monument to the memory of Henry, second Duke of Beaufort, K. G., who died 24th May, 1714. On the north side of the Altar is a very fine specimen of the talents of Rysbrach, to the memory of Charles Noel, fourth Duke of Beaufort, in which the several figures introduced possess great strength of expression. His Grace departed this life on October 28th, 1756, in the forty-seventh year of his age; he married Elizabeth, daughter of John Berkeley, Esq., of Stoke-Gifford in this county, sister of Norborne, Lord Botetourt, whose Barony she inherited; in consequence of which, his Majesty, George III., on 4th of June, 1803, by letters patent, confirmed to the late Duke of Beaufort, her son, the Barony of Botetourt, with its due place and precedence. Her Grace died 8th April, 1799. Henry, the fifth and late Duke of Beaufort, K. G. seventh Marquess and eleventh Earl of Worcester, the thirteenth in natural descent from John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, fourth son of King Edward III., married Elizabeth, daughter of the Honourable Edward Boscawen, Admiral of the Blue. His Grace died October 11th, 1803, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Henry Charles, the present and sixth Duke of Beaufort, who is also a Knight of the most noble Order of the Garter. Sezincot, Gloucestershire ; THE SEAT OF SIR CHARLES COCKERELL, BART. THIS elegant mansion, the seat of Sir Charles Cockerell, Bart., is seated about two miles and a half from the town of Morton, about seven from Camden, and nineteen miles north-east from the city of Gloucester. It has been entirely erected by the present owner of the estate, and in the style of the splendid palaces of the East. The grounds are varied and beautiful, and the whole laid out with very great taste and judgment; a part is called the Thornery. These have been embellished with a variety of ornamental buildings erected in the most picturesque situations. The Wellington Pillar, the Temple, the Bridge, and Fountain, are subjects of the pencil of Thomas Daniell, Esq. R.A., an artist well known for his exquisite delineations of Oriental scenery: his paintings of the views at Sezincot were exhibited at Somerset House, in the year 1819. Adlestrop Park, Gloucestershire ; THE SEAT OF CHANDOS LEIGH, ESQ. ADLESTROP is a large and interesting mansion, the seat of Chandos Leigh, Esq. a portion of it appears of considerable antiquity, to which additions have been made in later times. It is delightfully situated on the gentle slope of a hill near the boundary of the county, where it adjoins Oxfordshire, about four miles north-east from the town of Stow in the Wold. The pleasure-grounds, by which it is environed, were laid out by the late Adey Repton, who has not failed to display the natural beauties of the situation to the greatest advantage. A small |