Burghley House, by Robert







My family and I went to Lord Burghley's house in Stamford in Lincolnshire. It was built by William Cecil (Lord Burghley) who was one of the most important advisors to Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century. It is absolutely huge, with lots of grounds. It really looks impressive from the outside, and as I found out, it is impressive inside too!


We followed the Beastly Boring Burghley tour which showed us all around the house. All the children were also given a special book at the end, which was full of interesting information, and it was led by a guide in Elizabethan costume (I think she got very hot!)











Our guide, in the kitchen


We found out about all the earls who lived at house, the furniture and the paintings, although we started in the kitchen, which had turtle skulls hanging on the walls (the turtles were made into soup) and a giant spit next to the fireplace. Young boys used to have to turn this round and round for hours (getting burnt in the process). There were also lots of jelly moulds which people used to eat for dessert – they often had rotten teeth, so these were easy to eat. I don't think they would have improved their teeth though.










The steps with the potty in

There were so many bedrooms and drawing rooms including lots of rooms called George, the blue silk drawing room, the green and black bedroom and lots more. One was supposed to have had Elizabeth 1 sleeping there, while another was slept in by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was so small, they had to lower the bed for her to get into (you used to get into bed by climbing up steps). We saw a set of steps and if you lifted the lid, it had a little potty inside.




I found all the bells in the hall interesting as there were so many connecting up all the rooms in the house so that servants could be called. There was also a billiard room which is still used today to play snooker.


I loved the chapel. It had so many decorations, and even the ceiling was beautiful. My favourite rooms were the heaven room and the hell staircase. The walls and ceiling in each room were painted with gods for the heaven room, including Neptune and Saturn, and for the hell staircase the walls were painted with pictures of wars and death. It was very dramatic.


Over all I would say the tour was not boring but it was also not very beastly. I thought it would be horrible and disgusting but it was actually quite nice to listen to – I think more gore would have been better!











Jess next to one of the sculptures in the gardens

At Lord Burghley's house there are also some fantastic gardens, called the Gardens Of Surprise. The gardens are full of fountains, mazes and sculptures and I got soaking wet running in and out of the water.




I especially liked Poseidon's Grotto and the maze, and I got to the middle even though mum and dad didn't. I really enjoyed walking around the gardens after the tour, even though I was dripping with water.




The beautiful house of Lord Burghley is a great, fun and interesting day out for all ages. I really liked it.

 


The Beastly Boring Burghley Tour is on every day over the summer at 10am. It costs £35 for a family (up to three children and two adults) but then you get admission to the House and Gardens for the whole day so you can go back inside after the tour if you want to.

 

More by me:

 

Dr Johnson's House


5 tips for visiting Legoland


    





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Family Travel Times: Burghley House, by Robert

Wednesday, 6 August 2014

Burghley House, by Robert







My family and I went to Lord Burghley's house in Stamford in Lincolnshire. It was built by William Cecil (Lord Burghley) who was one of the most important advisors to Queen Elizabeth I in the 16th century. It is absolutely huge, with lots of grounds. It really looks impressive from the outside, and as I found out, it is impressive inside too!


We followed the Beastly Boring Burghley tour which showed us all around the house. All the children were also given a special book at the end, which was full of interesting information, and it was led by a guide in Elizabethan costume (I think she got very hot!)











Our guide, in the kitchen


We found out about all the earls who lived at house, the furniture and the paintings, although we started in the kitchen, which had turtle skulls hanging on the walls (the turtles were made into soup) and a giant spit next to the fireplace. Young boys used to have to turn this round and round for hours (getting burnt in the process). There were also lots of jelly moulds which people used to eat for dessert – they often had rotten teeth, so these were easy to eat. I don't think they would have improved their teeth though.










The steps with the potty in

There were so many bedrooms and drawing rooms including lots of rooms called George, the blue silk drawing room, the green and black bedroom and lots more. One was supposed to have had Elizabeth 1 sleeping there, while another was slept in by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was so small, they had to lower the bed for her to get into (you used to get into bed by climbing up steps). We saw a set of steps and if you lifted the lid, it had a little potty inside.




I found all the bells in the hall interesting as there were so many connecting up all the rooms in the house so that servants could be called. There was also a billiard room which is still used today to play snooker.


I loved the chapel. It had so many decorations, and even the ceiling was beautiful. My favourite rooms were the heaven room and the hell staircase. The walls and ceiling in each room were painted with gods for the heaven room, including Neptune and Saturn, and for the hell staircase the walls were painted with pictures of wars and death. It was very dramatic.


Over all I would say the tour was not boring but it was also not very beastly. I thought it would be horrible and disgusting but it was actually quite nice to listen to – I think more gore would have been better!











Jess next to one of the sculptures in the gardens

At Lord Burghley's house there are also some fantastic gardens, called the Gardens Of Surprise. The gardens are full of fountains, mazes and sculptures and I got soaking wet running in and out of the water.




I especially liked Poseidon's Grotto and the maze, and I got to the middle even though mum and dad didn't. I really enjoyed walking around the gardens after the tour, even though I was dripping with water.




The beautiful house of Lord Burghley is a great, fun and interesting day out for all ages. I really liked it.

 


The Beastly Boring Burghley Tour is on every day over the summer at 10am. It costs £35 for a family (up to three children and two adults) but then you get admission to the House and Gardens for the whole day so you can go back inside after the tour if you want to.

 

More by me:

 





    





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25 Comments:

At 6 August 2014 at 11:35 , Anonymous Chloe Griffiths said...

looks like a fab day out, I love stuff like this :) xo

 
At 6 August 2014 at 12:11 , Anonymous Laura-Faerie said...

Wow how beautiful! What a fabulous family day out :)

 
At 6 August 2014 at 13:28 , Anonymous Rachel @ Parenthood Highs and Lows said...

I would love to visit there - I love places like that!

 
At 6 August 2014 at 13:36 , Anonymous Jessica Dearnley said...

I love historical places and this house looks lovely :)
x

 
At 6 August 2014 at 13:46 , Anonymous You Baby Me Mummy said...

Great review, beautiful place. I know it from the Equine Event that runs there x

 
At 6 August 2014 at 15:47 , Anonymous Barefoot Mahala said...

That's a great deal - usually these kind of things cost an arm and a leg to take a family

 
At 6 August 2014 at 19:41 , Anonymous Aisha from expatlog said...

Love all the historical detail in this - like the steps up to bed, jelly moulds and rotten teeth, and the turtle skulls in the kitchen from turtle soup (THAT bit took me right back to reading Alice in Wonderland).
At that price it sounds like a decent family day out. Perfect opportunity to see how the other half lived ;-)

 
At 7 August 2014 at 00:20 , Anonymous Angela Spicer said...

The rabbit sculpture there looks impressive.

 
At 7 August 2014 at 00:49 , Anonymous Michelle Ordever said...

Wow - the bells look awesome. It's always amazing to visit stately homes like this and see what life would have been like back then!

 
At 7 August 2014 at 01:26 , Anonymous beautyqueenuk said...

I went here a good few years ago now and it was absolutely stunning, sadly I forgot my camera, but the history of the house was amazing x

 
At 7 August 2014 at 02:24 , Anonymous Trish Burgess said...

Burghley House is quite near me, Robert, and I used to love taking my son there when he was younger. I haven't been for a while so this has inspired me to go again - I love that rabbit sculpture.

 
At 7 August 2014 at 05:55 , Anonymous Jen Walshaw said...

What a fab day out and it isn't too pricey as some can be.

 
At 7 August 2014 at 09:36 , Anonymous Polly Davies said...

haven't been there for years - looks like a great day out

 
At 8 August 2014 at 01:16 , Anonymous Helen @ Witty Hoots said...

We love visiting places like this -now on our list of places to visit!

 
At 8 August 2014 at 23:40 , Anonymous Sonya Cisco said...

Sounds like a great day out, I do love an old building and the gardens sound fab too!

 
At 11 August 2014 at 09:11 , Anonymous Agata Pokutycka said...

Wow, just look at this kitchen!
What a space.
I must visit it one day.

 
At 13 August 2014 at 13:18 , Anonymous Bek said...

I used to be in Cecil group all through Secondary School (Queen Elizabeth Grammar School), which was named after William Cecil. The water looks like so much fun! I should really go and visit one day to find out more about Lord Burghley. I'm glad to see that you had a good day out there, even if it wasn't as gory as expected :-)

 
At 13 August 2014 at 14:42 , Anonymous Jane Batt said...

What a thorough review. Well done on getting to the centre of the maze!

 
At 26 August 2014 at 05:15 , Anonymous Robert said...

I was a great day and you should definitely visit.

 
At 26 August 2014 at 05:16 , Anonymous Robert said...

Thanks.

 
At 26 August 2014 at 05:18 , Anonymous Robert said...

It was a great day, for a great price and everybody in the family loved it.

 
At 26 August 2014 at 05:19 , Anonymous Robert said...

All of the sculptures were such fun to see especially the ones that made a noise.

 
At 26 August 2014 at 05:20 , Anonymous Robert said...

Thank you very much.

 
At 26 August 2014 at 05:23 , Anonymous Robert said...

The fountains were amazing the only bad thing was I couldn't wear my shoes for a whole week because they were so wet.

 
At 26 August 2014 at 05:25 , Anonymous Robert said...

You definitely should visit.(try and pick a sunny day, then the fountains are even more fun.)

 

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