• Windsor Town Map
• Windsor Castle
• Eton College
• Windsor Town
• Around Windsor

Venues : Around Windsor : Cliveden House

Cliveden is unique. One of the world’s finest luxury hotels, this grand stately home is set in the heart of the Berkshire countryside, surrounded by 376 acres of magnificent formal gardens and parkland. The chalk cliffs that give the estate its name provide visitors panoramic views over the beautiful Berkshire countryside and an idyllic bend in the River Thames.

The first house was built in 1666 by the 2nd Duke of Buckingham. A notorious rake, schemer and wit, he created Cliveden as a hunting lodge where he could entertain his friends and mistress. Since then it has twice been destroyed by fire, only to emerge, phoenix-like, more stunning than before.

Queen Victoria, a frequent guest, was not amused in 1893 when the house was bought by William Waldorf Astor, America’s richest citizen. When he gave it to his son and daughter-in-law in 1906 Cliveden became the hub of a hectic social whirl where guests included everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Winston Churchill, and President Roosevelt to George Bernard Shaw.

Guests have also included every British monarch since George I as well as Harold Macmillan, John Profumo and Christine Keeler, and many other well-known names from the past and present.

View map »