Longleat, English country house in Horningsham, England
Longleat is an Elizabethan manor house in Horningsham in southwest England, built from light Bath stone with numerous windows and four corner towers. The estate spans roughly 3,600 hectares, including a landscape park by Capability Brown, working farmland, and extensive woodland.
Sir John Thynne commissioned the manor house from 1567 after a fire destroyed the former priory, with Robert Smythson contributing as architect. The family has occupied the building for over 450 years and opened it to visitors in the second half of the 20th century.
The name derives from the Saxon term »Langan Léah«, meaning long field, referring to the landscape before construction began. Today visitors recognize the symmetrical facade with its many windows and the spacious interiors still occupied by the resident family.
Guided tours provide access to the state rooms on the upper floors and the gardens, while the safari park is separately accessible. Most rooms are on upper levels, so visitors with limited mobility should take this into account.
The residence was the first British manor house to welcome paying visitors and also established the first safari park outside Africa. Today lions and other animals still live in the park sections around the historical building.
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