Cliveden - Early History

Early History

Cliveden stands on the site of a house built in 1666 designed by architect William Winde as the home of George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham. But before Buckingham's purchase the land was owned by the Mansfield family and before that to the de Clyveden family.

The details are recorded in a document compiled by William Waldorf Astor in 1894 called "The Historical Descent of Cliveden". It shows that in 1237 the land was owned by Geoffrey de Clyveden and by 1300 it had passed to his son, William, who owned fisheries and mills along the Cliveden Reach stretch of the Thames and at nearby Hedsor.

The document also shows that in 1569 a lodge existed on the site along with 50 acres (200,000 m2) of land and was owned by Sir Henry Manfield and later his son, Sir Edward. In 1573 there were two lodges on 160 acres (650,000 m2) of treeless chalk escarpement above the Thames. It was on this impressively high but exposed site that Buckingham chose to build the first Cliveden house.

Buckingham pulled down the earlier buildings and chose William Winde as his architect. Winde designed a four-storey house above an arcaded terrace. Today, the terrace is the only feature of Buckingham's house to survive the 1795 fire. Although the Duke's intention was to use Cliveden as a "hunting box" he later housed his mistress Anna, Countess of Shrewsbury there. A contemporary account of Buckingham's antics with Anna is recounted by Samuel Pepys in his diary of the period.