History

The Verney’s have owned Claydon Estate for more than 550 years, but it was not until Sir Edmund Verney moved here in 1620, that Claydon House and Claydon Estate became the ancestral home of the Verney family.

In 1750 Ralph Verney, 2nd Earl Verney, inherited Claydon Estate and set about his grandiose plans of re-building the house to rival the neighbouring Stowe. Much of these magnificent designs and features can be seen today, but thirty years later he would face financial ruin and died without issue.

It was in 1827 that the Estate passed to Harry Calvert, who changed his name to Verney, and went on to marry Francis Parthenope Nightingale, sister of Florence Nightingale. Sir Harry Verney, 2nd Baronet, invested in the Estate and re-modelled the house.

The Estate was then passed through the generations to Sir Ralph Verney, 5th Baronet, who inherited in 1936. Twenty years later Claydon House was given over to the National Trust, with Sir Ralph and his son Sir Edmund Verney, 6th Baronet, dedicating their time to helping the Charity in the restoration and conservation of the house, as well as the running of the wider Estate.