Longleat Facts for Kids

This page is about the country house. For the safari park in its grounds, see Longleat Safari Park.

Quick facts for kids Longleat House
The façade of Longleat House
Type	Prodigy house
Location	Wiltshire, England
Built	1568–1580
Architect	Robert Smythson
Architectural style(s)	Elizabethan
Owner	Marquess of Bath
Website	longleat.co.uk/longleat-house

Listed Building – Grade I
Official name: Longleat House
Designated	11 September 1968
Reference no.	1364361


Listed Building – Grade I
Official name: Stables at Longleat House
Designated	11 September 1968
Reference no.	1200342


Listed Building – Grade I
Official name: Orangery With Walled Garden to Rear at Longleat House
Designated	11 September 1968
Reference no.	1036392


Listed Building – Grade I
Official name: Boathouse and Covered Bridge at Longleat House
Designated	11 September 1968
Reference no.	1200450


National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens
Official name: Longleat
Designated	1 September 1987
Reference no.	1000439

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Longleat is a grand country house located about 7 kilometers (4 miles) west of Warminster in Wiltshire, England. It is a fantastic example of an Elizabethan "prodigy house," which means it was a very large and impressive home built to show off wealth and power. Longleat is a special building, listed as Grade I, and it is the main home of the Marquess of Bath family.

The house sits within 1,000 acres of beautiful parkland. This parkland was designed by a famous landscape architect named Capability Brown. The wider Longleat estate also includes 4,000 acres of farmland and 4,000 acres of woodland. A Center Parcs holiday village is also found here. Longleat was the very first stately home in Britain to open its doors to the public. It also has the first safari park outside of Africa, along with other fun attractions like a huge hedge maze.

Sir John Thynne built the house between 1568 and 1580. It was designed mostly by Robert Smythson. The original building, a priory, had burned down in 1567. It took 12 years to finish the new house. Many people think it is one of the best examples of Elizabethan architecture in Britain. The Thynn family has owned Longleat since the 16th century. They have held the title of Marquess of Bath since 1789. The current Marquess is Ceawlin Thynn.

History of Longleat House
Exploring Longleat House
- Special Designations
Fun Visitor Attractions
Longleat Woods
Images for kids
See also

History of Longleat House

Longleat was once an Augustinian priory, which is a type of monastery. The name "Longleat" comes from "leat," which means an artificial waterway or channel, like one that supplies a watermill.

Building the Great House

Sir Charles Appleton bought the land for Sir John Thynn in 1541. Sir John was a skilled builder. In April 1567, the first house on the site caught fire and burned down. A new, grander house was mostly finished by 1580. Many people helped with the design, but Sir John did most of the work himself. He was the first of the Thynne family to own Longleat, and they have owned it ever since.

Changes Over the Centuries

Over the years, different members of the Thynne family made changes to Longleat.

Sir James Thynne (1605–1670) hired Sir Christopher Wren to make updates to the house. Wren was a very famous architect.
Thomas Thynne, 1st Viscount Weymouth (1640–1714) started the house's huge collection of books. He also added formal gardens, canals, and fountains.
Thomas Thynne, 1st Marquess of Bath (1734–1796) hired Capability Brown. Brown changed the formal gardens into the beautiful, natural-looking parkland you see today.
Thomas Thynne, 2nd Marquess of Bath (1765–1837) had Jeffry Wyatville modernize parts of the house. Wyatville added new galleries and a grand staircase. He also built many other buildings, like the Orangery.
John Thynne, 4th Marquess of Bath (1831–1896) loved Italian art. He hired John Dibblee Crace to decorate the inside of the house in an Italian Renaissance style.

Longleat in Modern Times

During World War I, Longleat House was used as a temporary hospital. In World War II, it became a school for officers' daughters. An American hospital was also built on the grounds.

Henry Thynne, 6th Marquess of Bath (1905–1992) inherited Longleat in 1946. To help pay for the house's upkeep, he decided to open it to the public. This made Longleat the first stately home in Britain to welcome visitors on a large scale. The famous Longleat Safari Park opened in 1966.

Alexander Thynn, 7th Marquess of Bath (1932–2020) was an artist who loved mazes. He created several mazes on the property, including the famous hedge maze. Ceawlin Thynn, 8th Marquess of Bath (born 1974) became the Marquess in 2020.

Interesting Facts and Appearances

In 1995, a very valuable painting by Titian called Rest on the Flight into Egypt was stolen from Longleat. Luckily, it was found safely in London in 2002.

Longleat has also been a popular place for filming movies and TV shows.

The film Libel (1959) was filmed there.
Several episodes of the BBC science-fiction show Doctor Who were filmed at Longleat. The estate even hosted a Doctor Who Exhibition for 30 years.
The Indian Hindi film Mohabbatein (2000) used Longleat as a location.
The music video for Toni Braxton's song "Breathe Again" was filmed in the house and gardens.

Exploring Longleat House

A tour of Longleat House lets you see many amazing rooms.

The Elizabethan Great Hall has a minstrels' gallery, where musicians would play.
The Red Library holds many of the 40,000 books in the house's collection.
The bathroom and bath-bedroom once had a lead-lined tub that was filled and emptied by hand! It also had the first flush toilet in the house.
The State Dining Room features a beautiful porcelain centerpiece on the table.
The State Drawing Room was designed by the famous decorator John Crace.
The Music Room has old instruments, including a barrel organ.
The Prince of Wales Bedroom is named after a large painting of Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales.
The Grand Staircase is a magnificent feature of the house.

Special Designations

Longleat House was given a Grade I listed building status in 1968. This means it is a building of exceptional historical and architectural importance. The gardens and parkland were also listed as Grade I in 1987. Other important buildings on the estate, like the stables, the orangery, and the boathouse and bridge, are also Grade I listed.

Fun Visitor Attractions

The famous Longleat hedge maze

Longleat Safari Park opened in 1966. It was the first drive-through safari park outside of Africa! It is home to over 500 animals. You can see amazing creatures like Rothschild's giraffes, Grant's zebras, Rhesus monkeys, rhinos, African lions, Amur tigers, and grey wolves. Recently, cheetahs, koalas, and spotted hyenas have also joined the park. In 2011, four lion cubs were born, and Disney even named two of them Simba and Nala!

Longleat House, the park, and all the attractions are open to visitors from mid-February to early November each year. The huge 9,800-acre estate, with the park covering 900 acres, is one of Britain's most popular tourist spots. It has inspired other large landowners to open their historic homes to the public to help pay for their upkeep. Longleat also leases 400 acres of land to Center Parcs for their Longleat Forest holiday village.

The Longleat hedge maze is thought to be the longest in the world. It has 1.69 miles of pathways! The maze was designed by Greg Bright. More than 16,000 English yew trees form its walls. There are also six raised footbridges inside the maze.

Longleat Woods

Longleat Woods is a large area of woodland covering about 249.9 hectares (617.5 acres) in Somerset. It is a special place for nature, recognized as a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest since 1972.

Longleat Forest is also where you'll find Center Parcs Longleat Forest, a popular holiday resort where families can stay and enjoy nature.