Burghley House is a WOW!

Today we awoke to sunny skies in Thurlby -- well, more or less. Our new B&B, the home of Wendy Chouffot, is a small operation in that it only has two guest rooms available, which is nice. Right now Concetta and I are the only guests present, which is really nice. I originally chose Wendy’s B&B because she had agreed in advance to tackle our laundry at this point in the trip. Now that we’re here, we’re certainly glad we chose this one. Not only did Wendy cheerfully take on the laundry job, but she has been just as accommodating and friendly as any host we’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Plus, the house is immaculate and very cleverly decorated.

This morning we had breakfast in the sunroom. See the top photo for Concetta enjoying her coffee in the serenity of this delightful morning room. Right outside the sunroom, we could hear water trickling in the pond. And, as you can see, the whole yard is just a mass of flowers. Our breakfast was just the way we like it, simple and nutritious. I especially loved the yoghurt. And though English folks generally struggle with furnishing drinkable coffee, Wendy’s coffee was just great. We found ourselves not wanting to break the spell so we lingered over breakfast longer than usual.

One of the most interesting places to visit in this area, according to Wendy, is the Burghley House in the village of Stamford about a dozen miles away. Since I didn’t really have any specific activities lined up in advance, we took Wendy’s advice and set out for Stamford right after breakfast.

Wow! I expected to see a stately house full of dusty old furniture, but was I off the mark. Burghley House was built by William Cecil, the first Lord of Burghley in 1555! This Cecil chap was no ordinary rich guy. He was Lord High Treasurer and Chief Minister to Queen Elizabeth the 1st. Good ol’ Cecil was also the guy who was responsible, to a large degree, in Mary Queen of Scots losing her Queenly head. The guides said that Queen Elizabeth was a tad miffed at him when she later regretted executing her cousin and banished him from court for a time. However, he was so important to her that he was soon back.

This house is no ordinary dwelling. Both Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria were sometime guests there and had specific bedrooms named for them. They wouldn’t allow photographs to be taken, but the artwork inside is nothing short of incredible. Almost all the vaulted ceilings are painted in the Sistine Chapel style with scenes from Greek mythology and what can only be described as a lot of naked folks having a very good time. One room alone took two painters a year to complete, and that was a fairly small room. In one room, the painters had not only frescoed the ceiling, but all the walls as well. What an undertaking! Also on the walls are over 600 paintings, some of which are the size of an average living room rug.

They were definitely getting my attention at this point, especially when we came to the snooker table that was twice as large as any table I ever seen before. And, this gigantic table had been crafted in 1859 from oak taken from a sunken, and subsequently raised, British Warship that had lain on the bottom for fifty years.

When we arrived at the chapel, which probably seated close to 50 people, a man was giving demonstrations on a couple of 18th century musical instruments, an pump organ (that had to be pumped by an assistant) and a piano. Both sounded lovely. The most astounding thing was when he confided to us that the music he was playing on the piano was a piece written by Mozart when the young composer was EIGHT years old. And that particular song was only one of forty that Mozart wrote that year!

The house was just so fascinating and elaborately furnished that I was just totally enthralled throughout the whole tour. I sure wish they would have allowed photographs, at least so you could see the frolicking naked people on the ceilings.

Because I love old houses and truly a historic preservationist at heart, one of the most exciting aspects of the house, for me, is the fact that from 1555 to 1981 the house was in the same family. Can you imagine that? Over four hundred years of family history in one house. That, I'm sure, is where a few dozen of the portraits that hang everywhere are from. Every family member for four centuries has had a oil done of them. Because the UK exacts such heavy death duties, in 1981 the heirs were forced, more or less, to turn the property into a trust and make it available to the public. The last actual owners live in -- any guesses? -- Oregon, USA. Other family members live in Canada. But one granddaughter lives at Burghley in special apartments that have been arranged for through the trust. I suppose the family couldn't bear to give up all contact with this awesome piece of real estate.

Once our tour of the house was over, we headed for the gardens. The house isn’t the only thing that is very, very large. I’m pretty sure I read that the current estate covers some 7,500 acres! Much of that property is farm land that they lease out and the money helps cover expenses for the upkeep of the estate. I’m not sure how much of the estate is given over to gardens, but Concetta and I spent at least an hour just wandering amongst the tree-shaded paths and enjoying the lake-side vistas. It was wonderfully restful and serene. I’m thinking of becoming a professional enjoyer of serenity in the future.

By tea time, Concetta and I had decided to have our big meal of the day in Burghley House’s dining hall. The dinning hall overlooks the rose garden and fountain (see photo 6) and provided an unbeatable setting for our dinner. Concetta finally got to partake of the lamb, something she’s been talking about since we were in Wales where all the sheep make their home. I, on the other hand, had the venison and dumpling pie with a football-sized bowl of veggies on the side. It was truly terrific. To reward ourselves for all the walking we’ve been doing, for dessert we shared a portion of “sticky toffee pudding,” which, if you’ve never had any, is like saying you’ve never made love. That dessert is FANTASTIC! The only reason I didn’t lick the plate is Concetta would have jabbed me with a fork.

Anyway, that’s our adventures for today. By the time we left Burghley House it had started to drizzle a bit so we came on back to the B&B for showers, blogging, and a bit of reading before bed. Tomorrow, well, I don’t know where we’ll be tomorrow, but stay tuned, it’s bound to be something interesting.

Ciao, tutti.