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{{about|the British mansion|Benjamin Chew's mansion in Germantown, Pennsylvania|Cliveden (Benjamin Chew House)}}
[[Image:Cliveden-2382.jpg|thumb|40350px|View looking north from the Ring in the Parterre showing Terrace Pavilion and Clock Tower to the left with Lower Terrace and Borghese Balustrade below]]

'''Cliveden''' is an Italianate [[mansion]] and estate at [[Taplow]], [[Buckinghamshire]], [[England]]. Set on banks {{convert|200|ft|m}} above the [[River Thames]], its grounds slope down to the river. The site has been home to an Earl, two Dukes, a Prince of Wales and the Viscounts Astor. 

(contracted; show full)e estate to  the west of the house. The gardens and woodlands (375 acres) are open to the public, together with parts of the house on certain days. There have been three houses on this site: the first, built in 1666, burned down in 1795 and the second house (1824) was also destroyed by fire, in 1849. The present Grade 1 listed house was built in 1851 by the architect [[Charles Barry]] for [[George Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 2nd Duke of Sutherland]].

==Present house==
[[Image:Cliveden 02.jpg|thumb|
200px|righleft|The Nnorth front.]]
[[Image:Cliveden 03.jpg|thumb|right|The east side]]
Designed by Sir Charles Barry in 1851 to replace a house previously destroyed by fire, the present house is a blend of the English [[Palladian architecture|Palladian]] style and the Roman Cinquecento.<ref>Crathorne, 1995, p.29.</ref> The Victorian three-storey mansion sits on a {{convert|400|ft|m|adj=on}}-long, {{convert|20|ft|m|adj=on}}-high brick terrace or viewing platform (only visible from the South side) which dates from the mid-seventeenth century. The exterior of the house is rendered in Roman cement, with [[terracotta]] additions such as [[baluster]]s, capitals, [[keystone]]s and [[finial]]s. The roof of the mansion is meant for walking on and there is a circular view, above the tree-line, of parts of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire including Windsor Castle to the South.<ref name='Crathorne206'>{{Harvnb|Crathorne|1995|p=206}}</ref>
[[Image:Cliveden 03.jpg|thumb|150px|left|The East side of the mansion.]]
Below the balustraded roofline is a [[Latin]] inscription which continues around the four sides of the house and recalls its history; it was composed by the then prime minister Gladstone. On the West front it reads: "POSITA INGENIO OPERA CONSILIO CAROLI BARRY ARCHIT A MDCCCLI" which translated reads: "The work accomplished by the brilliant plan of architect Charles Barry in 1851."<ref name='NT66'>{{Harvnb|National Trust|1994|p=66}}</ref> The main contractor for the work was [[Lucas Brothers, Builders|Lucas Brothers]].<ref>N.T. Guide, 1994, p.30.</ref> The clock tower next to the house is in fact a disguised [[water tower]].

In 1984-6 the exterior of the mansion was overhauled and a new lead roof installed by the National Trust, while interior repairs were carried out by Cliveden Hotel.<ref>N.T. Guide, 1994, p.46.</ref>

== Early history ==
[[Image:CliveGardenFrontVitruviusBritannicus edited.jpg|thumb|250px|right|The 1666 house. Only the arcaded terrace remains today.]]
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.<ref>Crathorne, 1995, p.10.</ref> 

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 {{convert|50|acre|m2}} of land and was owned by Sir Henry Manfield and later his son, Sir Edward. In 1573 there were two lodges on {{convert|160|acre|km2}} 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. 
===George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham===
[[Image:2ndDukeOfBuckingham.jpg|upright|thumb|125px|right|George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham.]]
===George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham===⏎
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.

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Orkney's contributions to the gardens can still be seen  today, most notably the Octagon Temple and the Blenheim Pavilion, both designed by the Venetian architect [[Giacomo Leoni]]. The landscape designer [[Charles Bridgeman]] was also commissioned to devise woodland walks and carve a rustic turf [[amphitheatre]] out of the cliff-side.


===Frederick, Prince of Wales===⏎
[[Image:Frederick, Prince of Wales, and his sisters by Philip Mercier.jpg|upright|thumb|left|175px|Frederick, Prince of Wales with his sisters at Kew, c.1733. A copy of the painting hangs at Cliveden.]]
===Frederick, Prince of Wales===⏎
Between 1737 and 1751 the estate was leased to [[Frederick, Prince of Wales]] by Orkney's heirs after his death. Frederick was the son of [[George II]] and the father of [[George III]]. After falling out with his father, Frederick used Cliveden to enable him to withdraw from life at the royal court. At Cliveden he established a family home for his wife Augusta and their children. 

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===George, 2nd Duke of Sutherland===
Warrender died in 1849 and the house was sold to the Sutherland family, headed by the second Duke. Sutherland had only been in possession of the estate for a few months when, in the same year as his acquisition the house burned down for the second time in its history. The cause this time appears to have been negligence on the part of the decorators.<ref>N.T. Guide, 1994, p.28.</ref>

[[Image:Clivedenmorris edited.jpg|thumb|
150px|left|A nineteenth-century engraving of the 1851 house from the parterre.]]
The Duke was prompt in commissioning the architect [[Charles Barry]] to rebuild Cliveden in the style of an Italianate villa. Barry, whose most famous project is arguably the Houses of Parliament, [[Westminster]], was inspired by the outline of the two earlier houses for his design. The third (and present) house on the site was completed in 1851-2 and its exterior appearance has little changed to this day. The {{convert|100|ft|m|adj=on}}-tall clock tower, which is actually a water tower (still working to(contracted; show full)

The National Trust tour only includes the Great Hall and French Dining Room.

==Cliveden Hotel==
[[Image:Cliveden, June 2005.JPG|thumb|right|Cliveden Hotel from the Parterre
.]]
In 1984 a hotel company &ndash; Blakeney Hotels (later Cliveden Hotel Ltd) &ndash; acquired the lease to the house. Led by chairman John Lewis and managing director John Tham (husband of ''[[Railway Children]]'' actress [[Jenny Agutter]]) they restored and refurbished the interior.<ref name='Crathorne202'>{{Harvnb|Crathorne|1995|p=202}}</ref> Rooms are furnished with Edwardian antiques and the house is run in a similar style as it would have been when Nan(contracted; show full)

The hotel's insignia is that of the Sutherland family and consists of a [[coronet]] with interlaced "S"s and [[acanthus]] leaves. It can be found on radiator grills in parts of the house.<ref name='NT85'>{{Harvnb|National Trust|1994|p=85}}</ref> The hotel's motto is "Nothing ordinary ever happened here, nor could it."<ref name=Cliveden/>

==Gardens and grounds==
[[Image:Cliveden Parterre.jpg|thumb|left|The Parterre from the terrace
.]]
The estate extends to {{convert|375|acre|km2}} of which about {{convert|180|acre|km2}} comprise the gardens, the rest being [[woodland]] and paddocks. The formal [[parterre]] to the South of the house is one of the largest in Europe at {{convert|4|acre|m2}}.<ref name='Llewellyn123'>{{Harvnb|Llewellyn|1989|p=123}}</ref> It consists of clipped [[yew]] pyramids and wedge-shaped beds edged with box hedging and filled with [[catnip]] and seasonal planting.  The Long Garden  consists of [(contracted; show full)cidentally imported along with the balustrade in the late 19th century, and managed to survive the intervening winters to the present day.<ref>name="Sharpe">Janet Rideout Sharpe.March 2005.[http://home.earthlink.net/%7Eaydinslibrary/MalacGp07.pdf  ''Papillifera papillaris (Gastropoda:Clausiliidae): a new record for Britain''] The Archeo+Malacology Group Newsletter, (7):page 6&ndash;7.</ref>

==Temples, pavilions and follies==
[[Image:Cliveden-2365.jpg|thumb|
150px|right|Giacomo Leoni's 1735 "Temple".]]
The earliest known garden buildings at Cliveden were both designed by Giacomo Leoni for Lord Orkney; the Blenheim Pavilion (c.1727) was built to commemorate Orkney's victory as a general at the [[Battle of Blenheim]]. The Octagon Temple, situated two-hundred feet above the Thames, was originally designed as a [[gazebo]] and [[grotto]] but was later converted by the 1st Lord Astor to become the family [[chapel]]. Its interior and dome are decorated with colourful [[mosaics]] by Clayton and Bell representing religious scenes. The [[pagoda]] in the water garden was made for the [[Exposition Universelle (1867)|Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867]] and was purchased by the 1st Lord Astor from the [[Chateau de Bagatelle|Bagatelle]] estate in Paris in 1900. In the woods there is a small [[flint]] [[folly]] thought to date from the mid-nineteenth century.

==Sculpture collection==
[[Image:Cliveden-2410.jpg|thumb|150px|righleft|[[Thomas Waldo Story]]'s Fountain of Love inscribed "Waldo Story, Roma 1897".]]
One of the features of the gardens is the large collection of sculpture, most of it acquired by the 1st Lord Astor from 1893 to 1906.<ref name='NT'>{{Harvnb|National Trust|1994|p=}}</ref> The shell fountain, known as the Fountain of Love, greets visitors at the end of the lime tree [[avenue]] up to the house. It was sculpted by  [[Thomas Waldo Story]] , (American, 1855–1915) in Rome in 1897 and was commissioned by Lord Astor for this site. It features a large [[Carrara]] marble shell supporting three life-size female figures attended by [[cupid]]. The  "Tortoise" fountain  near the parterre was also made by T.W. Story at around the same time.

[[Image:Cliveden-proserpina.jpg|140px|thumb|right|[[Proserpina]], after the original c.1565]]⏎
In the forecourt there is a collection of eight marble Roman [[sarcophagus|sarcophagi]], some of which date from c.AD 100 and were bought by Lord Astor from Rome.
[[Image:Cliveden-proserpina.jpg|thumb|100px|left|[[Proserpina]], after the original c.1565.]]
The Queen Anne Vase at the end of the Long Walk is said to have been given to Lord Orkney by [[Anne of Great Britain|Queen Anne]] in the eighteenth century and consists of a tall [[urn]] on a plinth decorated with the [[Greek key pattern]].

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*The main gates appear in the 1978 film ''[[Death on the Nile]]''.
*The interior and exterior of Spring Cottage appears in ITV's ''[[Cards on the Table]]'', (2005).
*The French Dining room stands in for a hotel bedroom in ''[[Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)|Sherlock Holmes]]'' (2009).

==Literature==
[[Image:Bavin's Gulls on the River Thames at Cliveden Deep (Nancy).JPG|thumb|
150px|right|Cliveden from the River Thames]]
*In Chapter 12 of ''Three Men in a Boat'' (1889), [[Jerome K. Jerome]] describes Cliveden Reach as "unbroken loveliness this is, perhaps, the sweetest stretch of all the river&nbsp;..."
*In ''Boogie Up the River'' (1989) Mark Wallington retraces Jerome's journey to mark its centenary, with the Thames at Cliveden described in Capter 5. 
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