‘Estates can be places for spiritual growth’
Badminton estate, Gloucestershire Foraging, sound baths, festivals
For the well-heeled wellbeing warrior, there’s nothing like a cosy fireside flow in a room hung with the family oils followed by a wellie-wearing stroll to set the cheeks aglow, labrador in tow. Think Soho Farmhouse, but for a spiritual crowd.
At the 52,000-acre Badminton estate in Gloucestershire, famed for horse trials and the invention of the eponymous shuttlecock game, you will find Lady Bella Somerset and her friend Gaby Cecil hosting retreats in the dower house, featuring foraging, guided deer park runs, fireside philosophy, meditation, e-bike adventures, massages, cacao ceremonies and sound baths (visit @somercecilexperiences on Instagram; prices from £495-£845). The estate also serves up seasonal vegetarian dishes with homegrown produce straight from its pesticide-free veg plot.
“There are three pillars to a retreat with us: movement, nature and connection,” says Somerset, who also runs treks in the UK and Nepal.
She is full of praise for other aristocrats who focus on connection and community. “Roger Tempest at Broughton Hall in Yorkshire and Edmund Colville at West Lexham in Norfolk are doing great things transforming their estates into places for spiritual and personal growth,” she says. Other mindful aristocrats include seventh-generation stately homeowner Josh Dugdale at the Wasing Estate in Berkshire, a fan of breathwork and wild swimming.
If wellbeing is too woo-woo for you, there is plenty else at Badminton, including open garden days and private tours of the house, which can be hired for corporate events, parties and weddings: the estate’s church, St Michael and All Angels, is ideal for a traditional service followed by a party in the Old Hall dining hall, which seats 60. The house was also a filming location for Bridgerton.
From August 20-21, the estate will host Tough Mudder South West, a 10-mile obstacle course, and on September 3, Firework Champions, combining pyrotechnics and aircraft displays.