Cliveden House and Gardens

The 152ha. gardens and woodlands are open to the public. Parts of the house are also open to the public on certain days. Currently, the sprawling mansion of Cliveden is employed as a luxury hotel. 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 house was built in 1851.

The house is remembered for an incident that rocked the British government. On an evening in July 1961, Viscount Astor and his wife hosted a small house party at Cliveden. His guests included the Secretary of State for War, John Profumo and his wife. That same weekend, Cliveden's resident osteopath, Stephen Ward, was also hosting house party at his home within the estate. The society showgirl Christine Keeler was one of his guests. Ward decided to take his friends up to the house for a dip in the swimming pool. There they met with Viscount Astor and his guests. This chance meeting between Keeler and Profumo resulted in the three-month affair that was to end Profumo’s career and resulted in the fall of the Macmillan Conservative government.

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