Recently updated on January 25th, 2020 at 03:08 am
Fluted pillars, fiendish mazes and art collections that can give even the world’s finest galleries a run for their money, Britain’s stately homes are among its greatest treasures. Whether visitors stroll through gardens, ascend sweeping staircases, or examine sculptures that evoke long lost glories, there’s beauty in every corner. Here we’ve selected some of Britain’s most beautiful stately homes, so everyone can play lord and lady for a day.
Blenheim Palace
A masterpiece of English baroque architecture, Blenheim Palace was built for the 1st Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill (an ancestor of Winston’s). With interiors designed by Christopher Wren, a stunning library, pipe organ, tombs, and artworks by the likes of John Sargent, only the grounds (with its huge waterfall and Bernini fountain) can really compete with the palace’s playful sprawl.
Buckingham Palace
Famous across the world for the Changing of the Guard ceremony that takes place in the forecourt of the palace (every day in summer, and every other day in winter), Buckingham Palace is the London home of the British royal family. It’s decked out in appropriate grandeur, with 19 state rooms that house the likes of Rembrandt, Poussin and Canaletto, state banquet tables, and bejewelled cutlery.
Hampton Court Palace
Built to showcase Cardinal Wolsey’s incredible wealth, Hampton Court was considered such an impressive pile that Henry VIII seized it when the Lord Chancellor failed to pull off a divorce for the King. Remarkable mostly for its indoor tennis court, maze, royal loo, patterned chimneys and Italian frescos, almost every square inch has a wonderful story to tell.
Sissinghurst Castle
Not so much a castle as a manor, Sissinghurst is another location that’s more famous for its surroundings than its stone thanks to the efforts of former owner Vita Sackville-West. The writer, and her husband Harold Nicolson, designed a horticultural heaven here in the 1930s, featuring everything from rose arbours to tracts of wisteria. Ascend Sissinghurst’s famous tower for incredible vistas of the gardens and the surrounding countryside or admire the Tudor remains on ground level. These once formed a prison for 3,000 French sailors captured by the British in the Seven Years War (1756-63), men who insisted on calling Sissinghurst ‘le chateaux’ – creating its current name.
Leeds Castle
Famous for being one of Henry VIII’s fairy tale pit-stops en route to the tournament of the Field of the Cloth of Gold (1520), Leeds Castle rises solid, yet ethereal, from its misty moat. Confusingly, one of Kent’s highlights, not Yorkshire’s, wander its corridors to spot signs of its several incarnations (from Jacobean retreat to Georgian mansion), or take the kids to see the falcon demonstrations.
Highclere Castle
Home of the Carnarvon family since 1679, its current edifice was designed by the same architect as the Houses of Parliament, Sir Charles Barry. More familiar nowadays as the home of Lord and Lady Grantham in the TV drama Downton Abby, thousands of people visit each year to see both the castle and the ongoing Egypt Exhibition, which displays the 5th Earl’s incredible antiquities.
If these stately homes leave you with a desire to visit Britain, why not book one of Trafalgar’s award-winning trips to England.
Image Credits: Blenheim Palace © Blenheim Palace. Queen Victoria Statue © iStock/davidf. Hampton Court © Royal Historic Palaces. Hunting Tower Sissinghurst © iStock/stocksnshares. Leeds Castle in Kent © iStock/asmithers. Highclere © Highclere Enterprises LLP.