Overview
Built and mostly designed by William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I, between 1555 and 1587, the main part of the House has 35 major rooms on the ground and first floors.
There are more than 80 lesser rooms and numerous halls, corridors, bathrooms and service areas. The lead roof extends to three quarters of an acre, restoration and rebuilding of which began in 1983 and took nearly ten years to complete.
Visitor facilities include the Orangery restaurant, gift shop, gardens and beautiful walks around the historic parkland laid out by Capability Brown and still occupied by a herd of fallow deer.
History can come alive in a single trip whether it is to enjoy a guided tour, take a dog for a walk in the park, take the children to paddle, see the gardens of surprise or take time over lunch in the Orangery.
Opening
2020
14 March to 1 November: Saturdays to Thursdays, 11am to 5pm.
Find us
The main visitor entrance is at ///decisive.bought.eyeliner. What does this mean?
Burghley is 1 mile from Stamford and 20 minutes north of Peterborough on the A1.
Burghley’s nearest station is Stamford, approximately 1 mile from the entrance. This is either a pleasant 30 minute walk taking you through the park or a short taxi ride.
There is also an hourly bus service run by Delaine which serves the outlying villages and links Peterborough to Stamford.
Parking
Car park on site
- Free
Taxi
Premier Cabs of Stamford 01780 757575
Admission
Historic Houses members visit for free.
Various prices for non-members, please see Other Opening tab
Accessibility
- Accessible parking
- Wheelchair ramps/routes
- Accessible toilets
- Guide dogs welcome
Group Visits
Burghley continues to offer groups the opportunity to experience the Cecil family home in the heart of this 13,000 acre working Lincolnshire Estate.
The House is open Saturday, 17th March to Sunday, 28th October 2018 daily (except Fridays) from 11am to 5pm.
Various tours of the house and garden are available.
Please check the website for further information, admission times and details for our special events
Visit websiteWeddings
Burghley’s superb Tudor architecture with its fairytale roofline overlooking beautiful Gardens provides the perfect backdrop to your wedding ceremony and reception.
For a truly memorable wedding, Burghley can be yours exclusively. Splendid and elegant rooms in this magnificent setting are available for your wedding ceremony and right through to late night partying.
Corporate Hire
Corporate events
Sitting amidst rolling parkland, with easy access to the A1, and only one mile from Stamford station, the House itself has 3 function rooms whilst the gardens and parkland provide several potential marquee sites with fantastic views of the House and lake.
For a smaller or less formal meeting or seminar, rooms are available, seating up to 80 theatre style or 28 boardroom style. Local accommodation is available on the edges of Burghley Park.
The William Cecil Hotel can offer special rates to those using the facilities at the House. Please contact them for more information.
Opening
2020
14 March to 1 November: Saturdays to Thursdays, 11am to 5pm.
Find us
The main visitor entrance is at ///decisive.bought.eyeliner. What does this mean?
Burghley is 1 mile from Stamford and 20 minutes north of Peterborough on the A1.
Burghley’s nearest station is Stamford, approximately 1 mile from the entrance. This is either a pleasant 30 minute walk taking you through the park or a short taxi ride.
There is also an hourly bus service run by Delaine which serves the outlying villages and links Peterborough to Stamford.
Parking
Car park on site
- Free
Taxi
Premier Cabs of Stamford 01780 757575
Admission
Historic Houses members visit for free.
Various prices for non-members, please see Other Opening tab
Accessibility
- Accessible parking
- Wheelchair ramps/routes
- Accessible toilets
- Guide dogs welcome
Group Visits
Burghley continues to offer groups the opportunity to experience the Cecil family home in the heart of this 13,000 acre working Lincolnshire Estate.
The House is open Saturday, 17th March to Sunday, 28th October 2018 daily (except Fridays) from 11am to 5pm.
Various tours of the house and garden are available.
Other opening
General admisission
From 14th March 2020, the House and Gardens are open daily (House closed on Fridays), from 11am-5pm (last admission 4:30pm) until 1st November 2020.
Please note that the House and Gardens are closed for the duration of the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials.
Admission Charges
All tickets to the House and Gardens and Gardens are available as gift aidable annual passes at no extra charge. These passes will allow access to the House and Gardens or Gardens for a full year from the date of purchase. Online advance ticket discounts are also available as annual passes at no extra charge. Please note your year starts from the date of purchase of your ticket, not the date of your visit, so you can visit on any day after your purchase. Certain event days will not be included in annual pass admission, if you are visiting for a specific event, please check which tickets you need to purchase on our events diary.
The House is shown by freeflow self guided tour, with an optional daily guided tour at 3pm, subject to availability.
| House and The Gardens of Surprise | |||
| Annual Pass | Online Advance Tickets | ||
| Adults | 19.50 | 17.00 | Buy Tickets |
| Children (3-15 years) | 10.50 | 9.00 | Buy Tickets |
| Family (2 adults & 3 children) | 56.00 | 48.00 | Buy Tickets |
| The Gardens of Surprise | |||
| Annual Pass | Online Advance Tickets | ||
| Adults | 13.00 | 12.00 | Buy Tickets |
| Children (3-15 years) | 9.00 | 8.00 | Buy Tickets |
| Family (2 adults & 3 children) | 42.00 | 38.00 | Buy Tickets |
Burghley Park
The park is open all year round from 8am to 6pm or dusk if earlier, and admission is free to all (please note the park may be closed occasionally for events or deer management).
Educational Visits
Educational opportunities dealing with historical, artistic, performance, literacy, mathematical and scientific themes are available all year round.
Visits can be self-led using free, supporting materials or guided by our experienced house staff and education officer, who delivers many themes in period costume. Schools are encouraged to make their visit in period-style costume if appropriate.
School Visits
Educational opportunities dealing with historical, artistic, performance, literacy, mathematical and scientific themes are available all year round.
Visits can be self-led using free, supporting materials or guided by our experienced house staff and education officer, who delivers many themes in period costume.
Schools are encouraged to make their visit in period-style costume if appropriate.
Burghley House's history and features
The building period of the house extended over a period of 32 years. We know from the State Papers that the east range was erected in 1555 and work continued on the east and south ranges until 1564. Sir William Cecil had purchased Theobalds Manor, Hertfordshire in 1563 and for a whole decade was fully engaged there in the building of his great ‘prodigy’ house.
At Burghley in August 1564, Edmund Hall, the surveyor, promised that the south side should be finished by winter. Thereafter, little more work was done until 1575 when the team of masons was reassembled. The west front with its great gate-house (it was originally intended to be the main entrance) was finished in 1577. The north front was completed in 1587.
The stone used to build Burghley was from the Kingscliffe quarry in Northamptonshire. The oolitic limestone is so hard and durable that on the south front a quarter of the blocks still show the masons’ identifying marks.
Read more about Burghley House's history here
Things to See
Hell Staircase
Old Kitchen
Garden of Surprises
Heaven Room
Fun Facts
Burghley’s Staterooms are breathtaking, mainly due to two great collecting Earls. During the late 17th-century John, 5th Earl of Exeter (1648-1700) made four extended Grand Tours of Italy, purchasing an astonishing quantity of fine art.
A century later, Brownlow, 9th Earl (1725-1793) completed his ancestor’s planned alterations and also travelled, buying many more great treasures to complement those already at Burghley.
Upcoming events
One Heart, One Way: The Life and Career of William Cecil, Baron of Burghley
Professor Stephen Alford - Friday 11 September 2020
Stephen Alford's lecture will take place in the Great Hall, with drinks in the Orangery from 6pm and the lecture from 7pm.
William Cecil served continuously at the heart of Queen Elizabeth I’s government for a few months short of forty years. He was the most formidable politician of the
Elizabethan age, a maker of high policy, an instinctive dynast, a powerful court patron, and the builder of two of the most extraordinary houses in England, Burghley and Theobalds.
This lecture will explore the first Lord Burghley’s world and political imagination, examining what drove him to work as hard as he did for queen and kingdom. It will consider his relationships with Queen Elizabeth, his fellow courtiers and his family. It will examine, too, some of the most decisive moments in Elizabethan politics through his eyes. And it will explore the centrality of Stamford and Burghley to William Cecil’s powerful sense of family and dynasty and of the obligations he had to his ‘country’.
Stephen Alford is the author of Burghley: William Cecil at the Court of Elizabeth I (2008) and The Watchers: A Secret History of the Reign of Elizabeth I (2012). A former Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge, he has held the Chair in Early Modern British History at the University of Leeds since 2012. He is a Patron of the Lord Burghley 500 Foundation and is currently writing a political life of the first Lord Burghley’s younger son, Robert Cecil.
Photo by Jochen Braun.
