Bradley House

Bradley House has been owned by the Dukes of Somerset since it was built more than 300 years ago and is unique in retaining the warm, welcoming nature of a family home. Set in lovely informal grounds with views over rolling Wiltshire countryside, the house is available to rent as your exclusive use venue complete with bedrooms (doubles, twins and family suites) to sleep up to 21 people.

The House makes a wonderful luxury venue for a country house wedding, weekend house party, corporate entertaining or for a country house holiday within easy reach of Bath and Salisbury.

Our dining room is perhaps the most formal room in the house. With its panelled walls, polished oak floor and extraordinary fireplace it provides a wonderful setting for a meal with family, friends or colleagues. Our long table can seat up to 24 or by using round tables the room can seat up to 60. This room is licensed for civil weddings with up to 90 guests.

The library is normally the first room that guests gravitate to after they arrive. During the day it is a bright, relaxing room, later in the day a warm, cosy room - especially when a log fire is blazing in the fireplace. This is the perfect place to sink into a deep sofa with your favourite newspaper.

Our music room has French Doors leading onto an old terrace. It is not unusual for guests to be enjoying a glass of champagne on the terrace while listening to the sound of a jazz quartet or a string quintet drifting from the music room.

During the day the drawing room is a bright and beautiful room full of colour and interest. During the evening, with its huge windows shuttered and curtains pulled closed, it becomes the snuggeliest room imaginable. A great room in which to finish a great day.

Many of us are instantly attracted to a kitchen as "the centre of the house". If you are one of those people you will love our kitchen. With a four oven Aga and a huge kitchen table this is a room to live in and relax. Whether you are self-catering, have a private chef or a small team of caterers you will find this is a kitchen that can cater easily for the 24 people that can be seated at our lovely dining table or, indeed, for up to 60 people eating in the dining room.

As with most stately houses we have a variety of bedrooms ranging from grand suites to charming rooms that would once have been staff quarters. The house can sleep up to 21 guests in comfort and below are a brief description of some of the bedrooms.

St Maur is of the "grand" variety with a double aspect overlooking the grounds to the front of the house. The ensuite bathroom, which is almost as large as the bedroom, is equally impressive. The Italian bedroom is so called because of the nature of its furnishings which are wonderfully "Italianate". The bed is particularly impressive; it is high, large, very ornate and great fun. The wood panelled ensuite bathroom leaves nothing to be desired. The bath is huge and set onto a pedestal as is the toilet. A bathroom to feel grand in. In the Bow & Church bedroom the name reflects the wonderful Bow Window that over looks the grounds to the south. However, it is the bed that make this room unique. A large carved four post bed that was made for the marriage of King Henry V111 to Jane Seymour, the most illustrious ancestor of the Dukes of Somerset. The Church bedroom is a charming twin bedded room that shares it's bathroom with Bow Bedroom (the bathroom being ensuite to both rooms) thereby making an ideal family suite. The Park bedroom is another bedroom with a four poster bed and another family room which has a separate single bedded room attached. The large ensuite bathroom also has an equally impressive shower. White is a simple, attractive bedroom that has its own large bathroom just across the landing. This is one of just two bedrooms that have their own bathrooms but which are not ensuite. In total there are 10 bedrooms with their own bathrooms (8 en-suite), 1 bedroom that is individual but shares a bathroom that is en-suite to both rooms (a family suite), 1 bedroom that is accessed through a main bedroom and shares an en-suite bathroom (a small family suite) and 1 bedroom that shares bathroom with another bedroom where the bathroom is not en-suite.

*Please note, locations shown on the maps are approximations only

The house is located between Warminster and Frome in the village of Maiden Bradley just seven miles North of the A303 on the B3092. We are within an hour of Bath and Bristol and two hours from London on the M3 and A303. The regional airports of Exeter, Southampton and Bristol are all relatively close by. Being situated on the border of Wiltshire and Somerset and within easy reach of Bath and Salisbury, both ancient and very beautiful towns, makes the house a wonderful venue for a country house holiday.

Bristol and the South Coast are an hour's drive away and the area has more places of interest than we can possibly list here. Longleat, the vast stately home of the wonderfully eccentric Lord Bath and his famous wildlife park is just 3 miles away. Stonehenge, the most visited ancient monument in England, is 30 minutes drive and Stourhead, an 18th Century Palladian mansion set in one of the most beautiful country parks in England, is just 5 miles away.

The house is surrounded by some of the best driven game shooting in England so it is not surprising that it has been used to entertain shoot parties for a very long time. We can organise shoot parties in a number of ways: you can rent the exclusive use of the house for a day or a number of days and we can arrange everything else for you - menus, drinks, staff, in fact everything down to your choice of morning papers. At the other end of the scale you could bring your own chef, staff, drinks, whatever you feel you will need.

From informal walks in our grounds or through the extensive and lovely woodlands that surround us to something more organised. We have six traps set out in our grounds with each trap set to deliver different clay flights each representing the differing flights of game birds. We have trained instructors available to organise a shoot suitable for everyone, from expert guns to first time shots and they will provide suitable guns. Gun owners are of course welcome to use their own. A typical clay shoot could involve some instruction, practice and a fun competition which would take between two and three hours. During that time each person would have the opportunity to shoot on all of the different traps. For large groups, as part of a corporate event for example, additional instructors and traps can be added and the day can be organised specifically to suit the client and the other activities taking place.

Just a few miles from the house Falcons, Eagle Owls, a Snowy Owl and some majestic Hawks live in "bird luxury" at the Mere Down Falconry. The house makes a wonderful background for a Falconry display when these wonderful birds will fly for you and to you. Children (of all ages!) never fail to be delighted by a display that they become part of.

We can arrange 4x4 Driving Events on our testing off-road driving course, near to the house and under the guidance of expert instructors. A day driving 4x4 vehicles provides a great adventure while, at the same time, expert instructors ensure that safety is always paramount. A typical 4x4 event involves basic manoeuvres: ascending and descending hills, judging speed and momentum, dealing with ruts, ditches, water crossings and side slopes and the techniques needed to deal with sand and soft surfaces. After that "learning experience" guests set about putting into practice the skills they have learned on the more challenging parts of the off-road course. Advanced terrain that will really test their newly acquired skills and, once mastered, will leave them with a great sense of achievement.

Bradley House is a wonderful place to hold a private house party...this was of course one of the major reasons for a house like this being built. Whether it's to celebrate a landmark birthday, a significant business success, a new grandchild or any one of a dozen reasons the house makes a wonderful venue for private celebrations.

For parties up to 60 guests it is possible to eat in our panelled dining room, for larger numbers we can site a marquee on our lawns very close to or indeed attached to the house.

Whether you rent Bradley House for a wedding, a corporate event or a private celebration we can organise a number of country activities around the house that would make your stay even more enjoyable. From informal walks in our grounds or through the extensive and lovely woodlands that surround us to something more organised, for example. We can help you find something that will entertain and delight your guests and make the very best of your stay with us.

The house is not a hotel experience, in fact it is almost the opposite, a lovely old family home in which you can hold your wedding just as you wish it to be. When renting the house you do so for your complete and exclusive use. It has bedrooms (doubles, twins and two family rooms) to sleep up to 25 people and has cots and blow-up beds for smaller folk.

Our approach is different from many other wedding venues: we offer to help you put together your own wedding exactly as you would like it to be. We do this by spending time with you to ensure that we understand what you are looking for and by introducing you to the appropriate recommended suppliers: caterers, musicians, florists and so forth. This helps you get both the wedding you are looking for and the best value possible.

We are licenced for civil weddings in the house and Maiden Bradley's lovely old church is right next door with a private entrance from our grounds. For smaller numbers of guests it is possible to eat in our panelled dining room, for larger numbers we can site a marquee on our lawns very close to, or even attached to the house.

If you choose us for your wedding venue, the support of Kim Mattia is included. Kim was an event caterer for more than 25 years and has been involved in the organisation of hundreds of weddings so her advice can be really helpful in making sure that your wedding is just how you want it to be.

Renting the house gives you and your special guests the opportunity to enjoy the house as if it were your own for a few days; to walk in our lovely grounds or, time of the year and weather permitting, to spend time relaxing in or beside our pool. On the other hand you may have quite different ideas - renting the house for a holiday with your wedding held in the middle for example. Whatever you think you would like to do to make your special day even more special, talk to us. We can help!

- Security deposit: This is paid on arrival and will be refunded in full after departure subject to damage inspection.
- Linen & towels: All linen and bath towels are included in the rental price.
- Energy costs: Included in the rental price.
- End of stay cleaning: Included. Please leave the property in the state that you found it.
- Arrival time: 4pm onwards.
- Departure time: 10am.
- Pets: Please enquire.
- Smoking: No smoking in the property.
- It is recommended that all guests take out insurance to cover against potential cancellation and any accidental damage caused during your stay at the property.

What a wonderful weekend which was a surprise for Lis's father on his 80th birthday. You housed 25 relatives in superb comfort in a house that we can only dream of. The fires were awesome, sorry about using nearly all the logs!!!!. To have our dinner in that superb dining room, which sat all of us in comfort, will remain in our memories for ever. Many thanks to you both and also Georgia and all her staff including the singing waiter JJ!

Alan Joy and Lis West

I just wanted to thank you and all the team at Bradley House for making our stay so memorable! We had an amazing time. Everything was organized perfectly which meant that we could relax throughout. The house is beautiful and whilst suitably grand, feels like a proper home and was really cosy. None of us wanted to leave! Your recommendations were excellent too - Suzie and her team produced the most delicious food, Nicky's flowers were spectacular, the DJ was great and lunch at the Spread Eagle very good. Your suggestion about having an Ocado delivery was genius! Please pass our thanks to David and all the team at Bradley House for making it a truly wonderful week-end.

Chris & Sarah Melvin

Firstly I want to say thank you again so much for all your help with our wedding. It was the most incredible weekend and the wedding day was truly amazing. A day we will never forget! Kirsty the hairdresser was outstanding, having nannies for the children during the ceremony and drinks reception was a brilliant idea and I cannot recommend Stephane (Dine in Style) highly enough. The food was stunning and his staff were brilliant and attentive. Everyone who you provided to work all over the weekend were excellent. In particular Charlie (who was with us most of the weekend) was like an extra family member, he was really calm, friendly and polite. Clay pigeon shooting was a great idea for guys in the morning to keep them busy; we even lost a few girls to it! They loved it. All in all, it was the best weekend and wedding we could ever have asked for. Your help in planning the whole event Georgia was phenomenal; there are not many people who create a spreadsheet to your precise standards! We can’t thank you enough for everything you did for us in terms of planning, recommending suppliers and helpful advice every time we met with you.

Caroline Gregory