Monday, January 14, 2013

An Introduction to Grandeur


In late November, Hubby and I went on a little weekend getaway to the Lincolnshire region of England, making a  detour along the way to the 16th century Burghley House. Built between 1555-1587 by Sir William Cecil, who was the Lord High Treasurer for Queen Elizabeth, it
 was constructed in the shape of the letter E for the queen. Since then it has been the residence of his descendants, the earls and marquesses of Exeter, and today is owned by a charitable trust run by the family.
The house has 35 major rooms on the ground and first floors and 80 other lesser rooms. No small place for a treasurer to the queen.


The only downside of touring in November is that the interiors are closed for the season, and so we had to content ourselves with exploring the grounds



and taking a peek through The Orangery restaurant windows



which stays open year around--along with the gift shop, of course.
( A very nice one, I must admit.)



The gardens, landscaped by England's greatest gardener, Capability Brown, are open for free to the public all year long,




and the late fall colors



accented some of the architectural


highlights of the centuries old country house.


Hubby checked out the old truck on the grounds,


while I was intrigued by the rooftop landscape.


The entire estate is made of up 12,000 acres of farmlands, 700 acres of woodlands, 250 residential properties and 60 commercial properties.


Can you imagine the size of that?


Immediately surrounding the house is a 300 acre deer park and its inhabitants seemed quite content to graze in the sun, 


along with the sheep.


As we drove off the estate towards the market town of Stamford, which I'll share with you in the next post, I vowed to make this an upcoming spring day trip. 

If the inside of the house is as half as grand as the outside, it should be an amazing place! 



8 comments:

  1. Hello Debi, I am so pleased that you saw a little piece of Lincolnshire.. we say it is very different from the rest .. very very quiet and laid back, .. like a time warp.

    I know this area very well, especially Stamford , as my eldest son was stationed at RAF Wittering not far from there.. we used to go and see him quite a lot .. Shopping days :-)

    Take care and thank you for your lovely comment on my blog too xx

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  2. You must return in the Spring - you will love the interior, especially the magnificent Heaven Room painted by Antonio Verrio in 1686.

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  3. Gorgeous and grand! We were planning to go to Blenheim Palace in February (finally), but it is also closed. Capability Brown was quite the gardening chap, wasn't he?! I love his gorgeous landscapes. Loving you photo with the deer.

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  4. After now being a new fan of Downton Abby, I can see even MORE now the beauty of the English countryside. Being a Francophile for so long, I seemed to neglect our British brethren and their beautiful style. Our next trip MUST be to go see the countryside of the UK!

    Thank you my dear for coming to visit my little corner of the world. God has given us so many treasures to admire!!! Anita

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  5. WELL GOOD EVENING MY DEAR!

    Thank you for coming to view my post. I am trying to draw daily so I can fill up my shop for year-round themed cards. I hope you enjoy your visit there! Many hugs, Anita

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  6. oh please, please, please go back in the spring
    and give us a peek!

    i have always loved the name capability brown.

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