The family remained loyal to their Catholic faith through difficult times, risking their lives giving refuge to Catholic priests.
When the house was offered for sale in 1940, the estate covered the same area as it had in 1699.
Baeddi de Clinton
When the house was first built in the early 1400s, it was surrounded by the Forest of Arden. It got its name from a Saxon, called Baeddi, who first cleared the site in the forest, and the de Clinton family who dug the moat in the 13th century.
From the Bromes to the Ferrers
In 1438 the site was bought by a lawyer, John Brome, who built some of the house from Arden sandstone quarried on the site.
Through his grand-daughter, the house passed to the Ferrers family. It was Edward Ferrers who built much of what we see today, from 1526 onwards.
Henry Ferrers the Antiquary, who lived at Baddesley from 1564 to 1633, built much of the garden range and the great hall. He also added many of the coats of arms to the house – in carved wood and stained glass.