Tudor Time Traveller- Burghley House

This week’s Tudor Time Traveller location is Burghley House.

Burghley House

Regarded as one of the grandest houses of the Elizabethan age, Burghley House was built between 1555 and 1587 for Sir William Cecil, later the first Baron Burghley, Lord High Treasurer to Elizabeth I.

Work commenced on the east ranges in 1555 and continued until 1564 when all came to a halt as William Cecil focused all his energy on building his great house at Theobalds.

In 1575, the team of masons was reassembled and the mansion completed by 1587.

This large Elizabethan House is built on the site of an earlier 16^th century house that came into the possession of Richard Cecil, William’s father, between 1508-1528. The original house occupied the east side of the inner court and it’s possible that some of the walls from this Tudor home were incorporated into Cecil’s magnificent design.

Today visitors can experience the grandeur of this home and 18^th century gardens from March through to the end of October. The park is opened all year round.

Although the exterior of the home is much as Sir William Cecil intended it, imposing and magnificent, the interior has undergone many changes with each owner adding their own style of decorations and furnishings.

The house is now home to an impressive collection of oriental and European ceramics, furniture, textiles and art.

Burghley House has been used in several films including: Elizabeth the Golden Age, The Da Vinci Code and Pride and Prejudice.