Near Warminster, Wiltshire
6th July 2016 Photos by Hetty
We visited Longleat house and gardens, (member of HHA) but the only lions we saw were statues
Originally there was a priory here, but the house burnt down after it had been purchased, following the dissolution of monasteries. The Elizabethan house was completed in 1580 for John Thynne and his descendent still live there. The house was enlarged by Wren in the late 1600s. Capability Brown landscaped the grounds and removed the formal gardens. It was Italianised in the 1880s.
There are lions heads inside and out, and there was a menagerie here in the 1700s, so there has been a long association of Longleat with animals. The house was first opened to the public in 1949 and the Safari Park opened in 1966
There are lions on the coat of arms
We went into the house and saw Lord Bath’s murals, then toured the grand rooms
There are modern formal gardens
Sun Maze
Lunar Labyrinth
There are peacock hedges
Former stables – very grand too
One of these ‘clocks’ is attached to the weather vane
The Love Labyrinth in front of the Orangery
The Half Mile Lake
On the way home we stopped at Bradford on Avon