Braxted Park Estate hosts corporate days, residential meetings and weddings for up to 350 guests, with the Pavilion as its largest space and the Orangery, the Lantern Room and the Plessey Room for smaller groups. The estate lies at Great Braxted in Essex, at the end of a long drive between two lakes, with 500 acres of parkland and woodland around the house.
Seminars and company events
The corporate offer covers day meetings, residential programs, conferences, business dinners and team days. The Lantern Room suits small meetings and private dining, and the Plessey Room has an adjoining breakout space. Rooms have fiber broadband and audiovisual equipment with projectors, and both day and residential packages are offered. Activities on the estate include golf days, raft building on the lake, laser tag and bushcraft in the woods, puzzle challenges and overnight camping.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings are held on an exclusive-use basis. Civil ceremonies take place in the Orangery, with arched windows and hand-painted murals, or outdoors in the walled garden or the Woodlands, around a tree the estate dates to 600 years. A parish church in the grounds, reached by a walk along the lake, serves religious ceremonies. Drinks follow in the gardens, and the Pavilion takes dinner and the evening party. The couple has a courtyard dressing room for the morning.
Rooms and capacities
The Pavilion, built in the walled garden, holds up to 350 guests and can be set for dining, games or a club-style evening with a DJ. The Orangery hosts indoor ceremonies and smaller daytime receptions. The estate does not publish separate figures for the Orangery, the Lantern Room or the Plessey Room. Outdoor spaces include the walled garden with its fountain and reflecting pool, the Knott Garden and the lawns.
Accommodation
Twelve en-suite bedrooms in a converted stable block serve residential events and wedding guests, and one of them is fully accessible. The renovated Garden Cottage, with a four-poster bed, is kept for newlyweds.
Catering
The estate's own chefs write menus for each event, from breakfast and working lunches to three-course dinners, with meat and game from the estate where possible. Wedding couples taste their menu at the estate's cookery school.
History and setting
The park was recorded as a deer park in 1342, when it belonged to the Countess of Pembroke. A house was built on the present site around 1680 and reworked by the Du Cane family in the early nineteenth century. In 1947 the Plessey Company bought the estate. Its chairman, Sir Allen Clark, lived in and restored the house, and his grandson Duncan Clark runs the estate today with his wife Nicky. A golf course has used part of the old park since 1955.
Getting there
The A12 is about 10 minutes away, with roads to Colchester, Witham and Chelmsford. A main-line station is 4 miles from the estate and London Stansted Airport 23 miles, about 30 minutes by car. Parking is on site.
