Christmas at England's greatest Elizabethan house - Burghley

Christmas at Burghley

Christmas will be even more sparkling this year at England’s greatest Elizabethan house – with a free craft fair, extra seasonal shopping and a feast of festive food.

Dressed for the occasion, Burghley House, on the edge of Stamford, will have more Christmas decorations than ever before, while this year the annual Craft Fair will move to the House, adding to the festive feel around the cobbled courtyards.

For 2014, the Burghley Christmas Fair, run by the Rural Crafts Association, has been brought up the House and will nestle within the Brewhouse and courtyard, close to Burghley’s Orangery restaurant and shops. Entry this year is free of charge and stalls will feature unique textiles, unusual sculptures, artisan chocolates, jewellery and cashmere and silk pashminas (27-30 November, 9am until 5pm and 4pm on Sunday).

Also over that weekend, the free-to-enter Christmas Fine Food Market returns to offer visitors even more tasty treats. A celebration of local produce, stall holders will be selling local cheese, meats, cupcakes, cider and much more in the festively decorated courtyards, Saturday 29th November - Sunday 30th November.

Or how about Christmas carols in the intimate surroundings of the family Chapel within the House? What more traditional way to begin festive celebrations than at the Chapel Carol Concert with music spanning the House’s five centuries of history. Mulled wine and mince pies will be served in the candlelit Old Kitchen during the interval. (Sunday 14th December). 

For a chance to warm up with some seasonal food and drink, Burghley’s ever-popular Orangery Restaurant - housed in a building that provided space for the family’s love of horticulture and designed by Capability Brown – is now open Wednesday to Sunday, 10am until 4pm, until 21 December.

As well as the autumn and festive menus, a Christmas Afternoon Tea (available 19 November - 21 December) features turkey and cranberry or Stilton and red onion marmalade sandwiches, cranberry and white chocolate blondie and dark chocolate yule log.

For a spot of retail therapy, Burghley's Courtyard Shop is also open while extra seasonal shopping will again be available at the special Christmas Shop in the Brewhouse offering a selection of decorations, festive lighting, winter fragrances, chocolates and cosy winter accessories. Both shops open Wednesday through Sunday, 10am to 4pm, until 21 December.

While the house may be closed for winter, Burghley's parkland, with its resident herd of deer, remains open with free entry right through the year - perfect for winter walks or a chance to blow away the Christmas cobwebs.

For full details, opening times and to book tickets, see www.burghley.co.uk

Visitors offered a 'Fresh Take' on England’s greatest Elizabethan house through contemporary art

Burghley House

Visitors to Lincolnshire’s Burghley House are being offered a fresh new take on England’s greatest Elizabethan house through contemporary pieces ranging from resin art to sugar craft. 

More than four centuries of history and heritage at Burghley, on the edge of the Georgian stone town of Stamford, has provided the inspiration for the Fresh Take exhibition of contemporary artwork launching this month.

The project has offered six local artists the opportunity to explore Burghley’s heritage and produce new work, bringing together historic and current contexts as a complement to the House’s own exceptional collections.

The new artworks will be exhibited in Burghley's Staterooms from 9 September to 3rd November 2013 while events, including Artists’ Talks on 26th September and workshops on 26th October and 2nd November, will also be staged during the exhibition.

Artists Anita Bruce, Jason Duckmanton, Lindsey Holmes, Kathryn Parsons, Stuart Payn and Sue Shields have created some unusual pieces using the House and its history as their inspiration.

Among them are resin encased copper jelly and aspic mould motifs in the Old Kitchen, representing some of the treasures collected by the fifth Lord Burghley, while the Roman Staircase becomes home to two pairs of shoes made from sugar modelling pastes, envisaged for two of the House’s former residents, including the young daughter of William Cecil.

A Fresh Take of the Billiard Room comes courtesy of a display based upon the popular tricorn hat of the time which reflects the animal nicknames of the members of the Honourable Order of Little Bedlam that met there in the 17th Century.

The long standing relationship of Burghley with travel and tourism is also explored in the Pagoda Room with a display of hand cut paper ribbon maps reflecting the importance William Cecil placed on map content featuring only the details deemed most significant.

Supported by public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England as well as Creative Peterborough, Fresh Take launched its search for local artists in January this year.

Now the six selected artists, who took up their residency within Burghley House, to create their artworks, are to unveil their contemporary take on Burghley’s history and heritage to the public.

For more details about the exhibition, events and Burghley House, visit www.burghley.co.uk

Horrible history is child’s play at England’s greatest Elizabethan house

Burghley House and Deer

New family tours by costumed guides revealing the grizzly, gruesome and horrible history of England’s greatest Elizabethan house this summer.

New for 2013 at Burghley House, on the edge of the stone town of Stamford in Lincolnshire, is a children’s guidebook called Beastly Boring Burghley, offering a colourful and comical look at the history of one of Britain’s most spectacular Tudor country estates.

Now Beastly Boring Burghley is being brought to life like never before with new daily tours throughout July and August when Burghley’s own ‘Butler and Maid’ will take families on an exciting journey through this remarkable House. 

Free with a House and Gardens ticket, the special guided tours will take place every morning from Monday 22nd July to Saturday 31st August (excluding Fridays and Sundays),

Numbers are limited, but can be booked online with tickets reserving a place on the tour as well as giving access to the House and Gardens for the rest of the day. Every child joining the tour will also get a free Beastly Boring Burghley guidebook.

The 20-page book takes children on a journey around the house, with puzzles, activities and things to spot in each room – such as finding turtle skulls in the Kitchen, secret animal code names in the Billiard Room and English villains in the Pagoda Room.

For those not taking part in one of the special tours, the guidebook covers rooms in the same order as in the adult guidebook, giving parents and grandparents a chance to have a good look around while the Beastly Boring Burghley activities and puzzles keep children entertained! The cartoon-style illustrations and child-friendly text also reveal plenty of historical information too.

For the last four centuries Burghley - built for Elizabeth I’s chief minister William Cecil, the first Lord Burghley - has wowed visitors, whether Elizabethan royalty, locals enjoying the parkland or tourists from across the globe. 

It now offers a packed family day out with a combined ticket giving access to the stunning history and architecture of the House, and its huge collection of treasures, plus two gardens, including the Tudor-inspired Garden of Surprises with its 32 water features. 

For full details of opening times, events and to book online tickets, visit  www.burghley.co.uk or telephone 01780 752451.

Get ready for a Dirty Weekend at Burghley - World's Biggest Equestrian Assault Course

Burghley House

England's greatest Elizabethan house, one of Britain's top equestrian courses... and one Dirty Weekend! 

Date: Saturday 11th May 2013
Venue: Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire
More details: www.burghley.co.uk

For one weekend only, the largest assault course on Earth is being assembled within the grounds of one of England’s finest Elizabethan country estates.

Dirty Weekend is dubbed the 'World's Biggest Assault Course' and features challenging off-road running, followed by an epic After-Party of Festival-proportions.

The run itself consists of 2 options: The Full Mucker (20 miles) and the Half Mucker (13 miles) option for those who want to tackle most of the obstacles, but who find the full distance a little much.

The beautiful parklands surrounding the Elizabethan house are home to the annual Burghley Horse Trials, showpiece of the UK's equestrian calendar. But over one weekend in May, it won't be horses, but people tackling the course as part of the Burghley Horseplay element of the Rat Race Dirty Weekend.

With the House forming a spectacular backdrop, the event - run by Rat Race Adventure Sports, the UK's largest provider of Adventure Sports - will also feature a River Rat Race on the large ornamental lake, a walkway in the trees and the Guinness World Records Zone.

‘Burghley is excited to host the world’s largest assault course, the Rat Race in the stunning surroundings of Burghley Park and Estate,” said David Pennell, Burghley Estate Director.

“We are very used to horses’ and riders’ feats of endurance, but for the first time it will be people on their own two legs pitching their stamina against the grueling obstacles set up for the Dirty Weekend. We look forward to welcoming all the competitors to Burghley for a fantastic Dirty Weekend of truly world record breaking proportions,’

For full details of the Weekend and pricing as well as other events at Burghley, visit www.burghley.co.uk or telephone 01780 752451.

For more details about Race Race events, visit www.ratracedirtyweekend.com

Gold medals and movie magic . . . a royal Olympic year for Burghley House

England’s greatest Elizabethan house will be offering visitors a unique take on Britain’s Olympic year including perhaps the most scenic place to watch the London 2012 Games – and the picturesque venue for a blockbuster summer feast of movie outdoor screenings.
Throw in fun family events, free-to-enter Fine Food Markets, summer picnics plus Diamond Jubilee celebrations and Lincolnshire’s Burghley House is setting its sights on a bumper 2012.
 
As Britain prepares for Olympic glory and Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee, one of the country’s most inspirational past Olympic champions is being celebrated at the ancestral home of Queen Elizabeth I’s most trusted adviser.
 
Since being built 400 years ago by William Cecil, Lord Burghley - Elizabeth I’s chief minister - Burghley House has dominated the sweeping approach to the Georgian stone town of Stamford. Today, it still packs that ‘wow’ factor – offering a packed family day out with a combined ticket giving access to the House plus two gardens, including the Tudor-inspired Gardens of Surprise.
 
Regarded by many as England’s greatest Elizabethan house, Burghley has a unique claim to fame for its 2012 season - as home to an Olympic Gold Medal Winner and one of the key organisers behind the last Olympic Games to be staged in London. 
 
David Cecil, Lord Burghley (1905-1981), who inherited the title of Marquess of Exeter from his father in 1956, was one of the golden athletes of his generation. During a sporting career spanning more than a decade he won every available honour in his chosen discipline culminating in achieving gold for the 400 metres hurdles at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and silver in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics 4x400 metre relay.
 
Lord Burghley’s great talent as a hurdler and his life at Cambridge was the inspiration behind Lord Lindsay, one of the key characters in the film Chariots of Fire, played by Nigel Havers – a movie which features in Burghley’s summer night film outdoor screenings.
 
Burghley House will be dedicating its annual Treasury Exhibition to the Olympic connections and sporting achievements of the Gold medal winning Olympian. ‘An Olympian at Burghley’ will show memorabilia including his running outfit, medals and information about his sporting career.
 
And for those who want to watch the Olympics in a spectacular setting, Burghley will be throwing The Great Olympic Garden Party every day during the London Games. With the Elizabethan house as the backdrop, Burghley’s normally closed private South Gardens will host a Big Screen, showing TV coverage from Saturday 28th July to Saturday 11th August – and included for free with a normal house and gardens ticket.
 
Access to the screen will be available 10am to 10pm, last admission 6pm, with special late night tickets after 6pm at a reduced rate. A special Olympic Pass will also be available covering the whole period, while day tickets will be given as wristbands in the colours of the Olympic Rings. Visitors who collect all five will get free admission for the rest of the period.
 

A summer evening festival of outdoor screenings will feature four special film nights, launching on Saturday 28th July with iconic sports movie Chariots of Fire, followed by three other movie screenings on Wednesday 1st August, Thursday 2nd August and Friday 3rd August.
 
Fittingly for a house so closely linked to the first Elizabethan period, Burghley will also be joining in celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June, while there will once again be children’s events in summer and autumn as well as the annual free-to-enter Burghley Fine Food Markets at Easter, summer and Christmas.
 
For full details visit www.burghley.co.uk or telephone 01780 752451.

Burghley, near Stamford in Lincolnshire, has been the home of the Cecil Family for over 400 years and is England’s greatest Elizabethan House. Burghley is owned and maintained by Burghley House Preservation Trust, which looks after a huge collection of great works of art, including one of the most important private collections of 17th century Italian paintings, the earliest inventoried collection of Japanese ceramics in the West, exceptional 18th century furniture and wood carvings by Grinling Gibbons and his followers. The Trust also maintains a 13,000-acre estate including residential, commercial and agricultural lettings, woodland and Burghley Park, which is open daily at no charge.
 
The House is open from Saturday 17th March to Sunday 28th October 2012 daily (except Fridays) from 11am to 4.30pm (Saturday 28th July to Saturday 11th August, open every day including Fridays, with Big Screen access 10am to 10pm, last admission 6pm). Admission: House and The Gardens of Surprise - adults £12.50; children (3–15 years) £6.30; seniors/students £11.20; family (2 adults & 2 children) £33.