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Longleat is an English stately home and the seat of the Marquesses of Bath. A leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of
Warminster Warminster () is an ancient market town with a nearby garrison, and civil parish in south west Wiltshire, England, on the western edge of Salisbury Plain. The parish had a population of about 17,000 in 2011. The 11th-century Minster Church o ...
and Westbury in Wiltshire, and Frome in Somerset. The Grade I listed house is set in of parkland landscaped by Capability Brown, with of let farmland and of woodland, which includes a
Center Parcs Center Parcs may refer to: * Center Parcs UK and Ireland Center Parcs UK and Ireland (formerly Center Parcs UK) is a short-break holiday company that operates six holiday villages in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, with each cover ...
holiday village. It was the first stately home to open to the public, and the Longleat estate has the first safari park outside Africa and other attractions including a hedge maze. The house was built by Sir John Thynne and designed mainly by Robert Smythson, after Longleat Priory was destroyed by fire in 1567. It took 12 years to complete and is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of Elizabethan architecture in Britain. It continues to be the seat of the Thynn family, who have held the title of Marquess of Bath since 1789; the eighth and present Marquess is Ceawlin Thynn.


Longleat House and the Thynnes

Longleat was previously an Augustinian
priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. Priories may be houses of mendicant friars or nuns (such as the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans, and Carmelites), or monasteries of ...
. The name comes from " leat", an artificial waterway or channel such as that which supplies a watermill. Sir Charles Appleton (1515–1580) purchased Longleat for Sir John Thynn in 1541 for £53. Appleton was a builder with experience gained from working on The Old School Baltonsborough, Bedwyn Broil and Somerset House. In April 1567 the original house caught fire and burnt down. A replacement house was effectively completed by 1580. Adrian Gaunt, Alan Maynard, Robert Smythson, the Earl of Hertford and Humpfrey Lovell all contributed to the new building but most of the design was Sir John's work. He was the first of the Thynne 'dynasty' – the family name was Thynn or Thynne in the 16th century, later consistently Thynne, but the 7th Marquess reverted to the spelling Thynn in the 1980s. Sir John Thynne's descendants were: * Sir John Thynne the Younger (1555–1604) * Sir Thomas Thynne (''ca.'' 1578–1639). His secret marriage to his family's enemy is said to have inspired Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. * Sir James Thynne (1605–1670) who employed Sir Christopher Wren to carry out modifications to the house * Thomas Thynne (1646–1682) *
Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth (1640 – 28 July 1714) was a British peer in the peerage of England. Biography He was born the son of Sir Henry Frederick Thynne of Caus Castle, Shropshire, and Kempsford, Gloucestershire, and his wife, ...
(1640–1714) started the house's large book collection. Formal gardens, canals, fountains and parterres were created by George London with sculptures by Arnold Quellin and Chevalier David. The Best Gallery, Long Gallery, Old Library and Chapel were all added due to Wren. In 1707, Thomas Thynne founded a grammar school for boys in the market town of Warminster, near to his family seat, to teach the boys of Warminster, Longbridge Deverill, and Monkton Deverill. Over time this became known as the Lord Weymouth School; in 1973 Lord Weymouth's School merged with St. Monica's School for girls and continues today as Warminster School. * Thomas Thynne, 2nd Viscount Weymouth (1710–1751) married Louisa Carteret, whose ghost is reputed to haunt the house as the 'Green Lady'. * Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath (1734–1796) employed Capability Brown who replaced the formal gardens with a landscaped park and dramatic drives and entrance roads. *
Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath KG (25 January 1765 – 27 March 1837), styled Viscount Weymouth from 1789 until 1796, was a British peer. Life Early life Thynne was the eldest son of Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath, and Lady Elizab ...
(1765–1837) employed
Jeffry Wyatville Sir Jeffry Wyatville (3 August 1766 – 18 February 1840) was an English architect and garden designer. Born Jeffry Wyatt into an established dynasty of architects, in 1824 he was allowed by King George IV to change his surname to Wyatvill ...
to modernise the house and received advice from
Humphrey Repton Humphry Repton (21 April 1752 – 24 March 1818) was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of ...
on the grounds. Wyatville demolished several parts of the house, including Wren's staircase, and replaced them with galleries and a grand staircase. He also constructed many outbuildings including the Orangery. * Henry Thynne, 3rd Marquess of Bath (1797–1837). * John Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath (1831–1896) collected Italian fine arts. He employed John Crace, whose prior work included Brighton Pavilion, Woburn Abbey, Chatsworth House and the Palace of Westminster, to add Italian renaissance style interiors. * Thomas Thynne, 5th Marquess of Bath (1862–1946). During
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, the house was used as a temporary hospital. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, it became the evacuated Royal School for Daughters of Officers of the Army. An American hospital was also constructed in the grounds. * Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath (1905–1992). In 1947, death duties forced the sale of a large part of the Marquess' estates; to allow Longleat itself to survive, he opened the house to public visitors.
Russell Page Montague Russell Page (1 November 1906 – 4 January 1985) was a British gardener, garden designer and landscape architect. He worked in the UK, western Europe and the United States of America. Biography Montague Russell Page was born in Linc ...
redesigned the gardens around the house to allow for tourists. The safari park opened in 1966. * Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath (1932–2020) was an artist and mural painter with a penchant for mazes and labyrinths: he created the hedge maze, the love labyrinth, the sun maze, the lunar labyrinth and King Arthur's maze on the property. * Ceawlin Thynn, 8th Marquess of Bath (born 1974). The house is still used as the private residence of the Thynn family. The house was designated as Grade I listed in 1968. The formal gardens, pleasure grounds and parkland were listed Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in 1987.


Longleat House tour

The tour of the house comprises: *The Elizabethan Great Hall, with a minstrels' gallery *The lower east corridor, a wide room originally used as servant access to the main rooms. This now holds fine furniture and paintings. Also on display are two visitor books, one showing the signatures of
Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states durin ...
and Philip, the other Albert (
George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...
) and Elizabeth (the Queen Mother). *The ante-library, with a magnificent Venetian painting on the ceiling *The Red Library, which displays many of the 40,000 books in the house *The Breakfast Room, with a ceiling to match the ante-library *The Lower Dining Room *Stairs up, past a display of large early Meissen porcelain animals *The bathroom and bath-bedroom: the bath is a lead-lined tub of coopered construction, originally filled by hand from buckets and drained the same way; taps and drains are now provided. The lead lining was replaced in 2005. The room holds the first plumbed-in flush lavatory in the house. *The State Dining Room, with a Meissen porcelain table centrepiece *The Saloon *The State Drawing Room, designed by Crace *The Robes Corridor *The Chinese Bedroom *The Music Room, with instruments including a barrel organ *The Prince of Wales Bedroom, so named because of a large painting of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, the brother of
Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...
*The upper west corridor *The Grand Staircase *The banqueting suite on the top floor: the furniture and interiors designed by Claire Rendall, the dining table commissioned from John Makepeace and the chandelier from
Jocelyn Burton Sara Jocelyn Margarita Elissa Burton (10 January 1946 - 5 April 2020) was an award-winning British silver and goldsmith. Burton was the first woman to receive the City and Guilds of London Institute top award, the Prince Philip Medal. Life a ...


Events and filming

* In the 1959 film '' Libel'', Longleat is used as the estate of Dirk Bogarde's character. * Several episodes of the BBC science-fiction television series '' Doctor Who'' were filmed at Longleat, and for 30 years a Doctor Who Exhibition was hosted on the grounds. A major event celebrating the series's 20th anniversary was also held at the house at Easter 1983. * The 2000 Indian Hindi film '' Mohabbatein'' was filmed at Longleat, which served as the location for a school in the film. * Longleat staged the Red Bull Air Race in 2005. * It was transformed into 'Memory Manor', a laboratory to explore memory skills and the working of the brain for the 2006 BBC show ''How to Improve Your Memory''. * A copy of the painting '' The Fallen Madonna'', a running joke from the BBC television sitcom '' 'Allo 'Allo'', was made for Henry Thynne and hangs in Longleat House. * The nature programme ''
Animal Park ''Animal Park'' is a BBC television documentary series about the lives of keepers and animals at Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire, England. The show is presented by Kate Humble, Ben Fogle and Megan McCubbin, with appearances by members of Longl ...
'' is filmed at the park.


Longleat Woods

Longleat Woods Longleat Woods () is a 249.9 hectare (617.4 acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Frome in Somerset, notified in 1972. This site includes the Ashen Copse Nature Conservation Review site. This site is a large, ancient, ...
() is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, notified in 1972. Longleat Forest is also home to Center Parcs Longleat Forest, a
holiday resort A resort ( North American English) is a self-contained commercial establishment that tries to provide most of a vacationer's wants, such as food, drink, swimming, lodging, sports, entertainment, and shopping, on the premises. The term '' ...
.


Visitor attractions

Longleat Safari Park opened in 1966 as the first drive-through safari park outside Africa, and is home to over 500 animals, including
Rothschild's giraffe Rothschild's giraffe (''Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi'') is a subspecies of the Northern giraffe. It is one of the most endangered distinct populations of giraffe, with 1,399 mature individuals estimated in the wild in 2018. Taxonomy and ...
s, Grant's zebras, Rhesus monkeys, rhinos, African lions, Amur tigers and grey wolves. Cheetahs,
koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the ...
s and spotted hyenas are among the most recent additions to the safari park. Four lion cubs were born in September 2011, making a total of 10 cubs born that year, and
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
named two of them Simba and Nala as part of a co-promotion agreement for the upcoming Lion King 3D film. Longleat House was built in the sixteenth century by Sir John Thynn on the site of a dissolved priory, and in 1949 became the first stately home in Britain to be opened to the public on a commercial basis. The house, park and attractions are open from mid-February to the start of November each year. The 9,800-acre estate, of which the park occupies 900 acres, has long been one of the top British tourist attractions, and has motivated other large landowners to generate income from their heritage in response to rising maintenance costs. Longleat leases 400 acres of land to
Center Parcs Center Parcs may refer to: * Center Parcs UK and Ireland Center Parcs UK and Ireland (formerly Center Parcs UK) is a short-break holiday company that operates six holiday villages in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, with each cover ...
for the operation of the Longleat Forest holiday village. The Longleat hedge maze is considered the world's longest, with 1.69 miles of pathway. The layout was by maze designer Greg Bright. Over 16,000
English yew ''Taxus baccata'' is a species of evergreen tree in the family Taxaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe (including Britain and Ireland), northwest Africa, northern Iran, and southwest Asia.Rushforth, K. (1999). ''Trees of Britain ...
s form the walls surrounding a central tower, and there are six raised footbridges.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Elizabethan architecture Country houses in Wiltshire Grade I listed houses Grade I listed buildings in Wiltshire Grade I listed parks and gardens in Wiltshire Buildings and structures completed in 1580 Mazes Thynne family Historic house museums in Wiltshire Gardens by Capability Brown