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Longleat, Wiltshire

Longleat House in Wiltshire is one of the great prodigy houses of the Elizabethan era. Originally a monastery, the house was sold following the Reformation to John Thynne. Thynne then rebuilt the house after a fire in 1562, construction continuing until 1580. The new house had all the dreamy spires and turrets that would be associated with grand houses in Elizabethan England. The house looks particularly fantastical at night when it is lit up in blue. It is often pointed out that the reign of Elizabeth I had an air of dreamy unreality about it. Particularly in Elizabeth's later years many castles in the air were built. Some involved unrealistic overseas adventures; the Earl of Essex took a fleet to the Azores in a futile attempt to bring the Spanish empire to its knees; Raleigh's settlement in Roanoke Virginia lasted only two years. In the 1580s, just as Longleat was finished, Shakespeare wrote lovely dreams for a midsummer night, against a backdrop of failed harvests and hardship. The atmosphere of pipe dreams can be seen in the period's architecture, with Longleat as one of its most dramatic examples.

 

 

Interestingly the new great sixteenth century houses were not built with defence in mind. Wealthy people in previous centuries had poured their money into castles, but the great decorative houses of Elizabethan England seemingly had moved on. Castles had been out of date for a long time by the sixteenth century. Henry V had used gunpowder against the great castle at Harlech in 1409, and although Harlech's walls held on that occasion, the future seemed clear. It was now the symbolism of castles, always important, that would take over. In many ways Longleat is a highly stylised castle. It is built in a big square, enclosing a central open area, like a castle. There are towers, which have become fanciful, and turrets which have become decorative. The edge of the roof is lined with a stone balustrade and ornate carvings, distantly reminiscent of battlements. Society may have moved on from castles, but the reassurance of their architecture remained. Churches wanting to suggest spiritual security continued to mimic castles, and even in the secular world, grand houses would now create castles in the air. Other fanciful Elizabethan "castles" by Longleat architect Robert Smythson can be seen at Wollaton Hall in Nottingham and Burghley House in Lincolnshire.

 

 

 

Longleat Park, with an Elizabethan knot garden in the foreground

When the house was first built, a typically formal Elizabethan garden stood around it as protection against nature. Nature in those days was viewed as unpredictable and dangerous. Formal gardens were stylised defence against this danger. Elizabethans were fond of knot gardens, consisting of low hedges, often laid out to create a picture when viewed from above. By the eighteenth century attitudes to nature were changing. Romantic poets were writing about natural beauty, and people even started travelling to see impressive natural landscapes in Wales and Scotland. But why travel when an idealised natural landscape could be created just outside your house? The eighteenth century saw a dramatic shift in garden design towards carefully planned naturalistic designs. Longleat illustrates this change. The huge formal gardens were swept away, and leading garden designer Capability Brown was hired to create a nine hundred acre park landscape which can be enjoyed at Longleat today. Between the house and the lake there is a small recreation of formal Elizabethan gardens that preceded the park landscape. See our article on the history of gardens in Britain for more information.

 

 

 

 

 

Longleat Safari Boat

A growing interest in the natural world is also demonstrated at Longleat by its famous safari park. Here you can see many wild African animals, and have your car pulled apart by monkeys should you so desire. There are also safari boat rides on the lake, where you can feed sea lions, view hippos, and a gorilla. Collections of exotic animals have a long history of association with wealth - Henry VIII had his own zoo at the Tower of London. But public zoos began in 1828 with London Zoo in Regent's Park. In 1966 Longleat opened the first safari park outside Africa. This was a new type of zoo where animals were allowed to roam in enclosures which attempted to mimic a more natural environment. So Longleat is both an echo of old royal animal collections, and the first of a new type of zoo. Back in 1828 thirty thousand people visited London Zoo in Regent's Park in its first seven months. This was the first indication of the huge interest in the natural world, that would eventually become a defining feature of life in the twentieth and twenty first centuries. Longleat Safari Park remains hugely popular, as is the television programme Animal Park telling the story of its work.

 

Longleat has many other attractions. These include a hedge maze with over one and a half miles of path, a miniature railway, motion simulators and a wonderful children's playground. There is a large restaurant, and a cafe in the old wine cellars of the house.

 

 

Opening Times:

4th January - 12th February 2010 , pre-booked VIP tours only. Contact property for details, using contact details below.

13th February - 21st February, open daily, 10am - 5pm weekdays, with 5.30pm closing at weekends, bank holidays and state school holidays.

27th February - 27th March, open Saturdays and Sundays only, 10am - 5.30pm

27th March - 31st October, open daily, 10am - 5pm weekdays, with 5.30pm closing at weekends, bank holidays and state school holidays.

1st November - 17th December, pre-booked VIP tours only. Contact property for details, using contact details below.

There is a camping and caravan site near the house.

Address: Longleat, Warminster, Wiltshire BA12 7NW

Directions: Longleat is just off the A362 near Warminster in Wiltshire. Click here for an interactive road and satellite map centred on Longleat.

Access: Disabled access to the house is good. Wheelchair users can enter via the Victorian Gardens found at the rear of Longleat House. There is a lift to all floors. Each wheelchair user must have two helpers with them. The various attractions each have their own arrangements for people with mobility difficulties. Some are inaccessible, such as the motion simulators.

Contact:

telephone: 01985 844328

web site: www.longleat.co.uk