Longleat. 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 and Westbury 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 1,000 acres of parkland landscaped by Capability Brown, with 4,000 acres of let farmland and 4,000 acres of woodland, which includes a Center Parcs holiday village. It was the first stately home to open to the public, and the Longleat estate includes the first safari park outside Africa.
The house was built by Sir John Thynne and was 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 present Marquess, Ceawlin Thynn, took over management of the business from his father Alexander in 2010. Longleat was previously an Augustinian priory. The name comes from leat, an artificial waterway or channel such as that which supplies a watermill. Sir Charles Appleton purchased Longleat for Sir John Thynn in 1541 for E53. Appleton was a builder with experience g
A leading and early example of the Elizabethan prodigy house, it is adjacent to the village of Horningsham and near the towns of Warminster and Westbury 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 1,000 acres of parkland landscaped by Capability Brown, with 4,000 acres of let farmland and 4,000 acres of woodland, which includes a Center Parcs holiday village. It was the first stately home to open to the public, and the Longleat estate includes the first safari park outside Africa.
The house was built by Sir John Thynne and was 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 present Marquess, Ceawlin Thynn, took over management of the business from his father Alexander in 2010. Longleat was previously an Augustinian priory. The name comes from leat, an artificial waterway or channel such as that which supplies a watermill. Sir Charles Appleton purchased Longleat for Sir John Thynn in 1541 for E53. Appleton was a builder with experience g
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