Barton Manor has one of the great histories. There has been something here since the Domesday survey, a priory was founded on the site in the 13th century, and the present manor house dates from the early 17th. Then in 1845 Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Osborne and the Barton estate alongside it, and Albert set about designing a model farmstead at Barton to house the guests and dignitaries who could not be fitted in next door. Edward VII later extended and modernised it. Victoria wrote in her diaries about how private it all was, how you could walk anywhere unmolested and how the woodland paths ran down to the sea — still very much what it is like.
The royal family sold up in 1922 and the estate has led a colourful life since; for 15 years from 1991 it belonged to the music producer Robert Stigwood, whose guest list ran from Elton John to Eric Clapton. Today it is a private estate of meadows, woodland, a lake and its own stretch of beach, with the listed farmhouse and a lakeside cottage let as five-star accommodation — 4 bedrooms in one and 2 in the other, so the immediate family can stay on site.
Weddings happen in Prince Albert’s stone barn, a handsome two-storey building that holds both a civil ceremony licence and an entertainment licence, with its gardens around it; between the barn and those gardens the estate takes up to 180 guests. The ponds and King Edward VII’s terraces give a photographer a great deal to work with. And if you want to make an entrance, the estate is set up for arrival by hovercraft or helicopter and departure by RIB from Barton Point, which is not a sentence many venues can offer with a straight face.
Where the band plays
A two-storey stone barn with its own entertainment licence is a promising room for live music. It is built of the right materials, it has height, and the licence means nobody is improvising permissions on the day. With up to 180 people across the barn and its gardens you have a substantial evening crowd, the sort that carries a five- or six-piece with ease. As with any stone building the sound is lively, so a band will want to set up at the solid end of the room and let a full house absorb the rest.
How the evening runs
The day flows naturally between the barn and its gardens, with the wider estate there for photographs and for a wander between courses. Evenings tend to finish at around 11pm, a little earlier than some, and it is worth building the running order around that: bring the first dance forward slightly, keep the speeches tight after dinner, and a band can still play two full sets and finish on a high rather than being cut off mid-song. Confirm the exact music finish with the estate when you book, and if you would like to carry on afterwards, having the farmhouse and the cottage on site makes that considerably easier to arrange.
Getting there and loading in
Barton sits at Whippingham between East Cowes and Newport, only a few minutes from the East Cowes car ferry, which is handy for a band bringing a van over from Southampton. It is a private estate reached by its own drive, so do make sure your suppliers have proper directions and a contact number; satellite navigation has been known to hold strong opinions about country estates.
Bands available on the Isle of Wight and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music on the Isle of Wight.
- Wedding Bands on the Isle of Wight
- Events Bands on the Isle of Wight
- Tribute Acts on the Isle of Wight
- Wedding DJs on the Isle of Wight
- Corporate Entertainment on the Isle of Wight
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters at Venues: What You Need to Know. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.