Burghley House
Stamford, Lincs
|
Location Guide |
Burghley House sits in 300 acres of deer park,
home to a large herd of Fallow Deer which was established here in the 16th
century. It is also home to the annual Burghley Horse Trials, a four
day equestrian event.
Lisa Batty
| It is a grand 16th-century English country
house near the town of Stamford and its park was laid out by Capability Brown.
The Lincolnshire county boundary crosses between the town and the house which is
located in the City of Peterborough unitary authority, Cambridgeshire. Burghley was built for Sir William Cecil, later
1st Baron Burghley, who was Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I, between
1555 and 1587 and modelled on the privy lodgings of Richmond Palace. It was
subsequently the residence of his descendants, the Earls and Marquesses of
Exeter, and is now owned by a charitable trust established by the family.
Within the house there are 35 major rooms on
the ground and first floors of which there is a suite of rooms remodelled in the
baroque style. There are also more than 80 lesser rooms and numerous halls,
corridors, bathrooms and service areas. Although the house was built in the
letter 'E' shape, in honour of Queen Elizabeth, it is now missing its north-west
wing which was demolished and along with the south front roof line raised to
allow better views of the new parkland being designed under the guidance of
"Capability" Brown.
The avenues in the park were all laid out by
Capability Brown, paying due respect to pre-existing plantings, some of which
were from the 16th century or earlier. Brown also created the park's man made
lake in 1775–80. He discovered a seam of waterproof "blue" clay on the grounds,
and was able to enlarge the original 9 acre pond to the current 26 acre lake.
Its clever design gives the impression of looking at a meandering river. Brown
also designed the Lion Bridge, originally, Coade-stone lions were used as
ornamentation but these perished, and the existing stone examples, made by local
mason Herbert Gilbert, have been in place since 1844.
|
Christine Hasman
Dennis Smith
Click
on small images to see larger versions |
Today the visitor can see:
Within the house a set of state rooms within
the house which includes; the kitchen, the blue silk bedroom and dressing room,
the George rooms and the Heaven Room and Hall staircase.
| Within the grounds and gardens you can see a
lake, large herd of fallow deer and The Garden of Surprises which is hidden
inside a Yew hedge is an experience that will delight the senses. It
incorporates a contemporary sculpture garden with specimen trees and shrubs, and
the Elizabethan Garden which is over an acre of yew mazes, revolving Caesar's
heads and spurting fountains, within here mirrors exaggerate, mazes confuse,
squirts of water distract, the dank moss house captivates, transforming
sculptures dazzle, the grotto entices and the longitude dial educates. Fifteen
acres of reclaimed scrub woodland has been planted and contains mown paths and a
lakeside walk. The lakeside walk you may see and hear some of
the resident water fowl which include, Barnacle and Canada Geese, Heron,
Mallard, Mandarin Duck, Pochard, Grebe, Coots and Swans. The lake it gives an
impression of a meandering river across which is the Lion Bridge with its bridge
gates and 'dog door' which allows hounds to get through from either direction at
speed. Walking away from the bridge following the tarmac road will take you
through the area used by the Horse Trials and at the junction of the drives is
where you may glimpse the resident fallow deer, the fawns are born in June/July.
They also open up their private gardens in
April for the display of spring bulbs.
Dennis Smith
|
 |
Fallow Deer in the Deer
Park
Linda
Kenney
.
Planning Grid
|
Location: |
Burghley House, Stamford, Lincs |
|
Grid Reference: |
TF048062 |
|
Getting there: |
North of Peterborough on the A1. At the
Stamford roundabout turn right towards Stamford, go past the impressive
Bottle lodges entrance gates, just past the A43 on left, turn right after
the Bull & Swan Pub, continue for 1 mile to the visitors entrance. |
|
Access: |
|
|
Parking: |
Free car parking on site |
|
Facilities: |
Toilets, restaurant, tearoom |
|
Things To Do,
See and Photograph: |
Fallow Deer, gardens, sculptures, landscapes
of the grounds |
|
What to take: |
|
|
Nature highlights: |
Fallow Deer, rut in October, new fawns in
June/July; waterfowl on the lake; spring bulbs in the private gardens |
|
Address: |
The House Office
Burghley House
Stamford
Lincolnshire |
|
Postcode: |
PE9 3JY |
|
Telephone: |
01780 752451 |
|
Opening times: |
House: 17 Mar-28 Oct, Sun-Thurs 11am-5pm (last
entry 4.30pm)
Gardens of Surprise: 17 Mar-28 Oct, Daily 11am-5pm |
|
Charges: |
House &
Gardens: Adults £13.80; Child (3-15) £7.00; Seniors/Students £12.50; Family
(2+2) £36.50;
Gardens Only: Adult £8.00; Child (3-15) £5.30;
Family (2+2) £26.00; Seniors/Students £6.80
Seasons
tickets to house and gardens also available. |
|
Photo Restrictions: |
No photography in house |
|
Other Restrictions: |
|
|
Special Needs Access: |
Chair lift to Orangery Restaurant, house tour
has 2 staircases one with lift. |
|
Special Needs Facilities: |
Disabled toilet available. |
|
Children Facilities: |
|
|
Dogs Allowed: |
Not allowed in house. Allowed in park on
leads. |
|
|
Please let us know any other information that we
can add to the Further information and Planning Grids or page and any errors that you discover. Before making a long trip to any location it is always
wise to double check the current information, websites like magazines may be
correct at the time the information is written, but things change and it is of
course impossible to double check all entries on a regular basis. If you have
any good photographs that you feel would improve the illustration of this page
then please let us have copies. In referring to this page it is helpful if you
quote both the Page Ref and Topic or Section references from the Grid below. To print the
planning grid select it then right click and print the selected area.
Please submit information on locations you discover so
that this system continues to grow.
|
