Stately home in Wiltshire, England
This article is about the country house. For the safari park in its grounds, see
Longleat Safari Park
.
Longleat
is a
stately home
about 4 miles (7 km) west of
Warminster
in Wiltshire, England. A leading and early example of the
Elizabethan
prodigy house
, it is a
Grade I listed building
and the seat of the
Marquesses of Bath
.
Longleat is set in 1,000 acres (400 ha) of parkland
landscaped
by
Capability Brown
, along with 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) of let farmland and 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) of woodland, which includes a
Center Parcs
holiday village.
[1]
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
.
History
[
edit
]
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 (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' that have held unbroken ownership since the 16th century.
[a]
Sir John's immediate descendants were
Sir John Thynne the Younger
(1555?1604) and then
Sir Thomas Thynne
(
ca.
1578?1639). Thomas's secret marriage to his family's enemy is said to have inspired Shakespeare's
Romeo and Juliet
;
Sir James Thynne
(1605?1670) employed Sir
Christopher Wren
to carry out modifications to the house; and was succeeded by
Thomas Thynne
(1646?1682), and then
Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth
(1640?1714) who 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 by
Christopher Wren
.
Thomas Thynne, 2nd Viscount Weymouth
(1710?1751) married
Louisa Carteret
.
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 Thynne, 3rd Marquess of Bath
(1797?1837) was succeeded by
John Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath
(1831?1896) who 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) inherited in 1896. 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 American hospital was also constructed in the grounds;
Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath
(1905?1992) inherited in 1946. Faced with considerable death duties he sold large parts of the wider estates; 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
(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) inherited in 2020.
A
Titian
masterpiece '
Rest on the Flight into Egypt
' - worth more than £5m - was stolen from the drawing room in January 1995. It was found in a plastic shopping bag in London in 2002.
[3]
Longleat staged the
Red Bull Air Race
in 2005. 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.
[4]
Media appearances
[
edit
]
The house has been much used as a film location, including:
Libel
(1959); several episodes of the BBC science-fiction television series
Doctor Who
, and for 30 years a Doctor Who Exhibition was hosted on the grounds,
[5]
with an event celebrating the series's 20th anniversary being held at the house at Easter 1983; the
Indian Hindi
film
Mohabbatein
(2000);
[6]
[7]
and the BBC show
How to Improve Your Memory
(2006).
[8]
Architecture
[
edit
]
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; 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
; the upper west corridor; the Grand Staircase; and the banqueting suite on the top floor: the furniture and interiors designed by Claire Rendall,
[9]
the dining table commissioned from
John Makepeace
[10]
and the chandelier from
Jocelyn Burton
.
[11]
Historic listing designations
[
edit
]
The house was designated as a Grade I
listed building
in 1968.
[12]
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.
[13]
Other Grade I listed buildings on the Longleat Estate include: the stables,
[14]
the
orangery
,
[15]
and the
boathouse
and bridge over the lake.
[16]
Gallery
[
edit
]
Visitor attractions
[
edit
]
Longleat Safari Park
opened in 1966 as the first drive-through safari park outside Africa,
[17]
[18]
and is home to over 500 animals, including
Rothschild's giraffes
,
Grant's zebras
,
Rhesus monkeys
,
rhinos
,
African lions
,
Amur tigers
and
grey wolves
.
[19]
[20]
Cheetahs
,
koalas
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
named two of them Simba and Nala as part of a co-promotion agreement for the upcoming
Lion King
3D film.
[21]
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.
[22]
[23]
The house, park and attractions are open from mid-February to the start of November each year.
[24]
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.
[25]
[26]
Longleat leases 400 acres of land to
Center Parcs
for the operation of the Longleat Forest holiday village.
[27]
The Longleat
hedge maze
is considered the world's longest, with 1.69 miles of pathway. The layout was by maze designer Greg Bright.
[28]
Over 16,000
English yews
form the walls surrounding a central tower, and there are six raised footbridges.
[29]
Longleat Woods
[
edit
]
Longleat Woods
(
grid reference
ST795435
) is a 249.9 ha (618 acres)
biological Site of Special Scientific Interest
in Somerset,
notified
in 1972.
Longleat Forest is also home to
Center Parcs Longleat Forest
, a
holiday resort
.
Family tree summary for the Thynnes of Longleat from about 1500
[30]
|
| | | | | | | | Ralph Botevile
[31]
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | Thomas Thynne
[31]
| | William Thynne
[31]
[32]
d.
1546
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | John Thynne of Longleat
[33]
c.
1515
?1580
| | Francis Thynne
[32]
c.
1544
?1608
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | John Thynneof Longleat
[34]
1555?1604
| | Charles Thynne
[35]
c.
1568
?1652
|
| | | | | | | |
| | | | Thomas Thynne of Longleat
[36]
c.
1578
?1639
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | Baronet of Caus Castle
, of Kempsford in the County of Gloucester, 1641
|
James of Longleat
[37]
1605?1670
| | Thomas of Richmond
[38]
d.
1669
| | Henry Frederick Thynne
1615?1680
1st Baronet of Kempsford
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | Baron Thynne
, 1680
Viscount Weymouth
, 1682
| | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Thomas of Longleat
,
[39]
1648?1682
| | Thomas Thynne
[40]
1640?1714
inherited Longleat, 1682
1st Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
2nd Baronet of Kempsford
| | James Thynne of Buckland
d.
1709
| | Henry Thynne Frederick
d.
1705
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | unmarried
| | | | | |
| | | | | | | | Henry Thynne
[41]
1675?1708
| | | | | | Thomas Thynne
d.
1710
|
| | | | | | | | two daughters but no sons
| | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Thomas Thynne
[42]
1710?1751
2nd Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
3rd Baronet of Kempsford
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | Marquess of Bath
, 1789
| | Baron Carteret
(2nd creation), 1784
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | Thomas Thynne
[43]
1734?1796
1st Marquess of Bath,
3rd Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
4th Baronet of Kempsford
| | Henry Carteret
[44]
1735?1826
1st Baron Carteret
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | Thomas Thynne
[45]
1765?1837
2nd Marquess of Bath,
4th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
5th Baronet of Kempsford
| | George Thynne
1770?1838
2nd Baron Carteret
| | John Thynne
1772?1849
3rd Baron Carteret
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Baron Carteret extinct, 1849
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Henry Thynne
[46]
1797?1837
3rd Marquess of Bath,
5th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
6th Baronet of Kempsford
| | Edward Thynne
1807?1884
| | Lady
Charlotte Anne Thynne
1811?1895
marr.
:
Walter Montagu Douglas Scott
,
Duke of Buccleuch
and had issue.
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | John Thynne
[47]
1831?1896
4th Marquess of Bath,
6th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
7th Baronet of Kempsford
| | Henry Thynne
1832?1904
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Thomas Thynne
1862?1946
5th Marquess of Bath,
7th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
8th Baronet of Kempsford
| | Ulric Oliver Thynne
1871?1957
|
| | | | | | | |
| | | | Henry Thynne
1905?1992
6th Marquess of Bath,
8th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
9th Baronet of Kempsford
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Thomas Timothy Thynne
1929?1930
| | Alexander George Thynn
1930?2020
7th Marquess of Bath,
9th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
10th Baronet of Kempsford
| | Christopher John Thynne
1934?2017
| | Valentine Charles Thynne
1937?1979
|
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Ceawlin Thynn
b.
1974
8th Marquess of Bath,
10th Viscount Weymouth and Baron Thynne,
11th Baronet of Kempsford
| | | | | | Lucien Henry Valentine Thynne
b.
1965
|
| | | | | | | |
| | | | John Alexander Ladi Thynn
b.
2014
styled Viscount Weymouth
|
|
- ^
The family name was Thynn or Thynne in the 16th century, later consistently Thynne, until the 7th Marquess reverted to the spelling Thynn in the 1980s
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Spend a day at Longleat"
.
BBC
. Retrieved
14 March
2014
.
- ^
"Stolen £5m Titian found in carrier bag after seven-year hunt"
. The Guardian
. Retrieved
27 August
2023
.
- ^
Say ‘Allo’ to new Longleat feature
,
Wiltshire Times
, 16 December 2005. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^
"Dr Who Exhibition, Longleat"
. The Doctor Who Exhibitions Archive
. Retrieved
15 January
2016
.
- ^
"5 Times Bollywood Tried Hard To Make Us Believe These Locations Were In India"
.
iDiva
. 15 October 2021
. Retrieved
22 April
2022
.
- ^
"Mohabbatein Movie Shooting Locations"
.
Filmapia
. Retrieved
22 April
2022
.
- ^
How to Improve Your Memory
, shown 9 August 2006, BBC One. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^
"Longleat House Interiors"
.
Claire Rendall
. Retrieved
2 March
2021
.
- ^
Mann, Jean (13 August 1981).
"Craftsman makes antiques of the future"
. New York Times
. Retrieved
28 August
2023
.
- ^
"Longleat Lion Chandelier"
. Jocelyn Burton
. Retrieved
28 August
2023
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"Longleat House (Grade I) (1364361)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
4 February
2022
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"Longleat: Park and gardens (Grade I) (1000439)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
9 November
2017
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"Stables at Longleat House (Grade I) (1200342)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
28 August
2023
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"Orangery with Walled Garden to Rear at Longleat House (Grade I) (1036392)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
28 August
2023
.
- ^
Historic England
.
"Boathouse and Covered Bridge at Longleat House (Grade I) (1200450)"
.
National Heritage List for England
. Retrieved
28 August
2023
.
- ^
"The lions and loins of Longleat"
. The Sunday Times. Archived from
the original
on 29 June 2011
. Retrieved
14 December
2011
.
- ^
New Scientist, 2 December 1982
, p. 554, at
Google Books
. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
- ^
"Longleat Safari Park, Wiltshire"
. Tourist Information UK
. Retrieved
11 October
2018
.
- ^
Picture The UK
- ^
"Longleat lion cubs named"
.
Heart.co.uk
. 6 October 2011
. Retrieved
11 October
2018
.
- ^
Stately-Homes.com
- ^
UKTV
- ^
"Opening Dates and Times - Longleat Safari & Adventure Park"
. Archived from
the original
on 19 February 2011.
- ^
Visit Bath
- ^
"Environment: News & features"
.
The Daily Telegraph
. 24 June 2018. Archived from
the original
on 26 April 2011
. Retrieved
11 October
2018
.
- ^
Warminster People
- ^
Eliot, Henry (2019).
Follow This Thread: A Maze Book to Get Lost In
. Crown.
ISBN
978-1984824448
.
- ^
"Longleat Hedge Maze"
.
Atlas Obscura
. Retrieved
10 June
2017
.
- ^
Burke, Sir Bernard, (1938 ed) Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage. Shaw, London. p. 243
- ^
a
b
c
Woodfall, H. (1768).
The Peerage of England; Containing a Genealogical and Historical Account of All the Peers of that Kingdom Etc. Fourth Edition, Carefully Corrected, and Continued to the Present Time, Volume 6
. p. 258.
- ^
a
b
Lee, Sidney; Edwards, A. S. G. (revised) (2004). "Thynne, William (d. 1546)".
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi
:
10.1093/ref:odnb/27426
.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- ^
Girouard, Mark,
Thynne, Sir John (1515?1580), estate manager and builder of Longleat
in
Oxford Dictionary of Biography
(
Oxford University Press
, 2004)
- ^
Booth, Muriel.
"Thynne, John (?1550?1604), of Longleat, Wilt"
.
History of Parliament
. The History of Parliament Trust
. Retrieved
2 January
2016
.
- ^
Lancaster, Henry; Thrush, Andrew.
"Thynne, Charles (c.1568?1652), of Cheddar, So"
.
History of Parliament
. The History of Parliament Trust
. Retrieved
2 January
2016
.
- ^
Pugh, R. B.; Crittall, Elizabeth, eds. (1957). "Parliamentary history: 1529?1629".
A History of the County of Wiltshire
. Vol. 5. London: Victoria County History – via British History Online.
- ^
Ferris, John P.
"Thynne, Sir James (c.1605-70), of Longbridge Deverill, Wilt"
.
History of Parliament
. The History of Parliament Trust
. Retrieved
2 January
2016
.
- ^
Helms, M. W.; Ferris, John P.
"Thynne, Sir Thomas (c.1610?c.69), of Richmond, Sur"
.
History of Parliament
. The History of Parliament Trust
. Retrieved
2 January
2016
.
- ^
Marshall, Alan (2008) [2004]. "Thynne, Thomas [nicknamed Tom of Ten Thousand] (1647/8?1682)".
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
(online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi
:
10.1093/ref:odnb/27423
.
(Subscription or
UK public library membership
required.)
- ^
Heath-Caldwell, J. J.
"Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath, 3rd Viscount Weymouth"
. JJ Heath-Caldwell
. Retrieved
2 January
2016
.
- ^
Hayton, D. W.
"Thynne, Hon. Henry (1675-1708)"
.
The History of Parliament
. The History of Parliament Trust
. Retrieved
2 January
2016
.
- ^
Dunaway, Stewart (2013).
Lord John Carteret, Earl Granville: His Life History and the Granville Grants
. Lulu. p. 33.
ISBN
9781300878070
.
- ^
"Bath, Thomas Thynne"
. Encyclopedia Britannica 1911
. Retrieved
2 January
2016
.
- ^
Thorne, Roland.
"Carteret [formerly Thynne], Henry Frederick"
. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
. Retrieved
2 January
2016
.
- ^
"Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath (1765?1837)"
. National Portrait Gallery
. Retrieved
2 January
2016
.
- ^
Escott, Margaret.
"Thynne, Lord Henry Frederick (1797-1837), of 6 Grovesnor Square, Md"
.
History of Parliament
. The History of Parliament Trust
. Retrieved
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.
- ^
"John Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath (1831-1896), Diplomat and landowner"
. National Portrait Gallery
. Retrieved
2 January
2016
.
Sources
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Longleat
at Wikimedia Commons
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