According to the GWR publication the Portcullis Hotel was ‘close to the railway station on the main Great Western line at Badminton’. If this was so, the Portcullis Hotel was actually nearer to Acton Turville.
In an 1885 reference it is listed as the Portcullis Hotel and Posting House. A publication dated 1906 entitled ‘Holiday Haunts on the Great Western Railway’ states: “Badminton is the headquarters of fox hunting, just two hours from Paddington on the new main route to South Wales and the West. The Portcullis Hotel is located one mile from the famous Badminton kennels. The hotel stands in its own grounds of nine acres which has recently been erected and furnished with a view to affording the maximum of comfort and convenience for hunting quarters, and commanding an ideal country for a summer holiday. By permission of the Duke of Beaufort the stables, kennels, park and garden at Badminton can be visited by guests staying at the Portcullis Hotel. The hotels own stables have been constructed with special care to provide fifty loose boxes.”
The building was used as a Red Cross hospital during the first and second world wars. The old hotel was converted into private residences in 1996.
Map reference: ST 810813 (Badminton Station)
Licensing Details:
Owner in 1891: Duke of Beaufort (free from brewery tie)
Rateable value in 1891: £171.0s.0d. (presumably this included some land)
Type of licence in 1891: Alehouse
Owner in 1903: Duke of Beaufort (free from brewery tie; leased S.H. Cowper-Coles)
Rateable value in 1903: £50.0s.0d.
Type of licence in 1903: Alehouse
Closing time in 1903: 10pm
Landlords at the Portcullis Hotel include:
1881,1891 Joseph Davis (aged 40 in 1881)
1903 Edward Wallington
1906 Richard Stovin