Longleat is an English country house, currently the seat of the Marquesses of Bath, adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster in Wiltshire and Frome in Somerset. It is noted for its Elizabethan country house, maze, landscaped parkland and safari park. The house is set in over 900 acres (364 ha) of parkland, landscaped by Capability Brown, with 8,000 acres (32.37 km2) of woods and farmland. It was the first stately home to open to the public, and also claims the first safari park outside Africa.
The house was built by Sir John Thynne, and designed mainly by
Robert Smythson, after the original 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. Longleat is currently occupied by Alexander Thynn, 7th
Marquess of Bath, a direct descendant.
A leat is an artificial waterway or channel such as that which
supplies a watermill.
Longleat House and the
Thynnes
, 1675]] Longleat was purchased by Sir John Thynn in 1541. He
was the first of the Thynne 'dynasty' - the family name was Thynn
or Thynne in the 16th century, later Thynne only, but the present
head of the family reverted to the spelling Thynn in the 1980s.
- Sir John Thynne (1515–1580) purchased Longleat which was
previously an Augustinian priory. He was a
builder with experience gained from working on Syon House, 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.
- Sir John Thynn, Junior (1555–1604)
- Sir Thomas Thynn (1578–1639)
- Sir James Thynn (1605–1670) who employed Sir Christopher Wren
to do modifications to the house
- Thomas Thynn (1646–1682)
- Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth (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.
- Thomas Thynne, 2nd Viscount Weymouth (1710–1751) married Louisa
Carteret whose ghost is reputed to haunt the house.
- 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 (1765–1837) employed Jeffry
Wyatville to modernise the house and received advice from Humphrey
Repton 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 Frederick Thynne, 3rd Marquess of Bath (1797–1837)
- John Alexander 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 Henry Thynne, 5th Marquess of Bath (1862–1946). During
World War I, the house was used as a temporary hospital. During
World War II, it became the evacuated Royal School for Daughters of
Officers of the Army. An Americal hospital was also constructed on
the grounds.
- Henry Frederick Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath (1905–1992). In
1947, death duties forced the sale of a large part of the Marquess'
estates; in order to allow Longleat itself to survive, he opened
the house to public visitors. Russell Page redesigned the gardens
around the house to allow for tourists. The safari park opened in
1966.
- Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath (born 1932) is 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).
The house is still used as the private residence of the Thynn
family.
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 and Philip, the other Albert (George VI)
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 cooper built lead
lined tub. Originally filled by hand from buckets and drained the
same way, taps and drains are now provided and 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 centrepiece on
the table to facilitate flagging conversations
- 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
- The upper west corridor
- The Grand Staircase
Events and
Filming
- Longleat staged the first ever British round of the Red Bull
Air Race in 2005. The second event took place in 2006 but was
cancelled at the last minute due to poor weather conditions.
- The Bollywood film Mohabbatein was filmed at Longleat
which served as the location for the Gurukul School.
- The Nature program Animal Park is filmed at the
park.
- A copy of the painting, The Fallen Madonna with the Big
Boobies, from the BBC television sitcom 'Allo 'Allo, hangs in
Longleat House.
Longleat
Woods
Longleat Woods (grid reference
ST795435) is a 249.9 ha (617.5 acres) biological Site of
Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, notified in
1972.
The Longleat Forest is also home to a holiday resort operated by
Center Parcs. who operate several sites in the Uk in forest areas,
based on offering Activity Holidays in a rural parkland setting
with accommodation in chalets or lodges and caravan parks.
References
External
links