Longleat — Best Manor House Gone Wild - Beyond Downton Abbey: A Guide to 25 Great Houses - page 106

photo by Simon 'Kelp' Keeping (Creative Commons license)
Who built it…who owns it
Built by Sir John Tynne and designed by Robert Smythson the house was substantially
completed by 1580 after the original priory on the site was destroyed by fire. In the 17 th
century, Sir James Thynne brought in premier architect Christopher Wren to make modi-
fications to the house, which included the Long Gallery, the Old Library and Chapel.
At the end of the 18 th century, the 2 nd Marquess of Bath employed Jeffrey Wyatville to
modernize the house and add several outbuildings including the Orangery. During World
War I the house was used as a temporary hospital and during World War II it was used as
a school for evacuated daughters of Army officers.
Longleat is currently home to Alexander Thynn, 7 th Marquess of Bath, a direct descend-
ent of the original builder.
Style notes
Elizabethan, early Renaissance
Longleat Park resident