Castle Map

Palace

Longleat

England · 16th century

Founded
c. 1550
Style
Elizabethan architecture
Architect
Robert Smythson
Heritage status
Grade I listed building · Grade I listed park and garden
Location
Horningsham
Coordinates
51.18568°, -2.27435°
Links
Wikimedia Commons
Open on the map →Official website ↗Wikipedia ↗
Longleat in England
Photo: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

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. 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 is 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.

Text adapted from “Longleat” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Longleat ranks #544 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #46 of the 397 mapped in England. Founded c. 1550, it is older than 37% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 933 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 12,056 times in the last 60 days, more than 95% of the atlas. 5 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Bristol, 37 km away. See how England compares in the castle statistics.

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