What Is Britain’s most extravagant country home? Well, with a suit of 18 dramatic
state rooms quite unlike anything else in the country, and striking elizabethan architecture
largely unchanged for 400 years, Burghley House might just be it!
Stay tuned to find out more about England’s largest Elizabethan home.
If you’ve seen my video on England’s Top 10 county homes, you will know that Burghley
House features highly in the list - Number 5 in fact. I use the word ‘best’ quite loosely
in fact because the video focuses largely of extravagance: Size, opulence, architecture,
that kind of thing. And of course these kind of lists are very much subjective,
and in all honesty ask me on a different day what why favourite country homes are
and I might tell you something different. And what does ‘Best’ actually mean?
Ask me what I think the most beautiful County Home in England is and I might say ‘Burton Agnes Hall’,
I am indeed a big fan. I might also say ‘Haddon Hall’ because it’s absolutely magical.
But where does Burghley House fit into all this. Only number 5 in my list my might be saying?
Well, Burghley House is truly, truly a magnificent country home and is likely representative of
the largest, most extravagant and best preserved Prodigy House in existence today. Just to clarify,
a Prodigy House is an ostentatious mega-mansion built by the richest and most influential
courtiers, largely in the Elizabethan period, and largely with the intention of enticing the monarch
and her retinue to visit. Good value for money then. Other excellent examples include Hardwick
Hall, Longleat House and Wollaton Hall. In my opinion, at the minute at least, Burghley is the
best of them all, and with perhaps the exception of Hardwick, likely the most recognisable.
Of course I don’t say this lightly. Burghley House is absolutely striking, inside and out. The 16th
century architecture, whilst typically symmetrical in design has an almost gothic feel about it,
and the beautiful decorative chimneys have dominated the skyline for nearly 500 years. You
would be forgiven for thinking that such a grand residence had been built for a Duke, or perhaps
the Monarch herself. But in actual fact, Burghley was one of three grand houses commissioned
by William Cecil, Lord Burghley - Queen Elizabeth I’s Chief Advisor and Lord High Treasurer.
Born in the Parish of Bourne in Lincolnshire in 1520,
William Cecil came from a minor noble family of Welsh ancestry. His grandfather David had been a
favourite of Henry VII and his father Richard had been a minor courtier to both Henry VIII
and Edward VI. Both had been lawyers and William was destined to follow in their footsteps.
Educated locally at Grantham and Stamford, William showed promise from a young age
and later attended St John’s College, Cambridge. Prior to actually obtaining his degree however,
he was pulled out by father and thrust into the legal profession.
Having spent much of his early career working for The Lord Protector Somerset,
following The Protectors spectacular fall from grace, Cecil hit the first bump in his career
and even spent a short period of time in the tower. But these things happen to the best of us,
and undeterred Cecil dusted himself off and fell in with the power of the time, John Dudley,
Earl of Warwick, later Duke of Northumberland. And like a fresh faced Tony Blair, things could
only get better for William Cecil who by this point was making a name for himself and proving
to be a very effective bureaucrat. He was was later appointed as second Secretary to Edward VI
and even received a knighthood. A Protestant, Cecil seemingly withdrew from Court under the
oppressive rule of Mary Tudor and become involved with the young Princess Elizabeth. As Elizabeth’s
surveyor of estates, Cecil was someone the future Queen would look to for advice and the two
developed a close bond. When Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558 Cecil was an obvious choice for
Secretary of State and dedicated 40 years of his life as Queen Elizabeth’s most trusted advisor,
just 4 years short of her entire reign. He was created the 1st Baron of Burghley, became knight
of the garter, and even served as Lord High Treasurer. Now, that’s quite an achievement.
Now we have a slightly better understanding of the man responsible for Burghley House, we can start
to understand how it came to be. When construction started in 1555, William Cecil was already a very
rich and influential man. Unlike many of his peers however, he lacked a significant lineage.
But Cecil was wealthy enough to found his own dynasty, and possessed of estates at Burghley,
what better way was there to to elevate his social standing and project his perceived importance
than by constructing the finest palace the country had ever seen.
Cecil was certainly his own architect, and although keen to see progress on Burghley’s
construction, work on the East and South ranges stalled in around 1564 when he
became distracted by the purchase of Theobalds Manor in Hertfordshire. The building period of
Burghley House consequently took 32 years, with the North front finally being completed in 1587.
This clearly gave Cecil and his mason Henryk opportunity to make some changes along the
way. The West front with its great gate house had initially intended to serve as the main
entrance but was substituted for the North front. So huge was the gatehouse in fact,
that a large obelisk clock tower was added to the East front inner court yard porch to act as a sort
of counterbalance. It also seems likely that the Great Hall was rebuilt on a much larger scale.
I find this quite interesting as by this point, such communal spaces were already
falling out of fashion. Also interesting as this could have been even larger.
Whilst most of the exterior architecture is original, some alterations were made by subsequent
owners. In the late 17th century alterations were made to the South front which largely resulted in
the ground floor open gallery being enclosed, and under the supervision of the 9th Earl
in the 18th century, Lancelot Capability Brown made further alterations. As you might expect,
Brown worked his magic on the gardens and park and also advised the Earl on interior decorations.
Speaking of the interiors then, as I may have already hinted, these are absolutely
world class. The interiors however would be unrecognisable to a time travelling William Cecil
and can largely be largely be attributed to the 5th and 9th Earls. It was during the 17th
century that the 5th Earl and his Countess absolutely transformed Burghley’s interiors
beyond recognition following a number of ‘Grand Tours’ to Europe. They adopted the Baroque style,
filled the house with paintings, tapestries and sculptures, and hired the Italian painter Verrio
who is responsible for the mind boggling painted ceilings we see throughout the house. The 9th
Earl, Brownlow, although an advocate of the contemporary Neo-classical style,
thankfully retained much of the design details incorporated by his
grandfather and completing the renovation of the first floor State Rooms. More on these later.
Visitors to the house today today are in for a real treat as much of
the house being open to the general public. As usual I won’t every single space within
the house as I absolutely encourage you visit yourself, but let me show you what to expect.
Entering the house via the Entrance Lobby, visitors will first experience the Old Kitchen.
This is actually one of just a few rooms at Burghley that would have looked the same in Tudor
times. My dad was fascinated with this kitchen when we visited, reminiscing with with the tour
guide about cooking proper Yorkshire puddings on something my grandma had called a Range.
I had to remind him he wasn’t alive in the 16th century, at least I don’t think he was……..anyway.
Onwards and upwards. The first floor is where the magic really happens. Prior to
entering the spectacular State Rooms, we have the Ante-Chapel, Chapel and Billiard
Room. These rooms are all quite lovely, but nothing quite prepares you for what comes next.
The Bow Room is the first Jaw Dropping moment in my opinion.
This large open space was originally intended as the State Dining Room by the 5th Earl
and features painted walls and ceilings inspired by Greek mythology.
The Bow Room was later used by the 9th Earl as a Music Room and to host performances.
The State Rooms that follow are honestly some of the finest
interior spaces Britain has to offer. The Brown Drawing Room is one I am particularly drawn to,
and whilst quite restrained compared to the rest, I love the fact that Queen Victoria slept
in small bed that still occupies the room when she visited the house as a young girl in 1835.
Some other favourites of mine include the Chinese themed Blue Silk Dressing Room,
The Second George Room with its incredible State bed and curtain hangings, the stunning
Third George Room, its walls adorned with magnificent Italian paintings and the lovely
Oak panelled Fourth George Room. The wood gets its colour from strong dark ale don’t you know!
The George Rooms were used by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on their Most Royal visit in 1844.
If you were wondering who George was then this was the 5th Earls dog George/Georgie……Or King George
I…….I forget which…….Probably the latter, or was it? No it was.
The Heaven Room. Ostentatious, Incredible, beautiful,
mind boggling, all of the above? Perhaps. Either way, you cannot help but to be utterly blown
away by this absolute spectacle. Considered Antonio Verrio’s greatest masterpiece, the
ceilings and walls are essentially a single vast painting depicting scenes from ancient mythology.
It's absolutely extraordinary. At the centre of the room sits a giant
solid silver wine cooler - believed to be the largest of its kind in existence.
From Heaven we descend into Hell. Or at least the Hell Staircase. And by descend I mean next
door. This was actually Verrio’s last commission at Burghley. Very much in debt, relieved of his
assistants and working alone, it took Verrio 11 months to complete his magnificent ceiling,
but boy was it worth his efforts. This work of art shows the entrance to Hell,
depicted as the enormous gaping mouth of a cat, with tormented devoured souls within. I think this
is actually a depiction of my mind after coming home from a 15 hour shift. The walls were actually
painted in the early 19th century, not that you would know, and the stunning stone cantilevered
staircase was installed in 1786 and leads visitors down to the final major room of the house.
At 68 feet in length and 60 feet in height, the Great Hall is quite a vast space. You
can imagine the grand banquets that would have been held here back in the 16th century, and
this continued to be the Halls main function right the way through to Queen Victoria’s visit in 1844.
In fact this grand hall is still largely used for entertainment today,
and serves as a venue for concerts and other social functions.
As you’ve seen, the house’s interiors are absolutely spectacular,
and combined with the largely original Elizabethan architecture,
the Burghley Estate serves as a ready made film set. Surprisingly though,
the house has probably featured in less film and TV productions than you think.
Those scenes from The Da Vinci Code will always stick in my mind.
Here, the Heaven room and Hell staircase serve as some of the backdrops to Gandolfo’s House. But,
most people of course will recognise Burghley from the 2005 movie adaptation
of Pride and Prejudice. Here, the house stands in as Rosings Park, the fictional ostentatious home
of Mr Darcy’s Aunt - Lady Catherine. Burghley House features in some of the exterior shots,
with the Heaven Room featuring as Lady Catherine’s extravagant Drawing Room.
Burghley House is certainly one of the most extravagant country homes in Britain,
and probably one of the most significant. Beauty though is in the eye of the beholder,
and I know the ostentatious interiors will not be for everyone. Whatever our opinions however,
I’m sure we can all agree that the the succession of architects and designers
who have been involved in the evolution of Burghley House absolutely achieved their
overarching objectives: To utterly wow and overwhelm visitors for years to come.
Burghley is truly a national treasure and one of Britain’s finest country homes.
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