Stately home - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A stately home is a "great country house

English country house

The English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a London house. This allowed to them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these people, the term distinguished between town and country...

". It is thus a palatial great house

Great house

A great house is a large and stately residence; the term encompasses different styles of dwelling in different countries. The name refers to the makeup of the household rather than to any particular architectural style...

or in some cases an updated castle

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

, located in the British Isles, mostly built between the mid-16th century and the early part of the 20th century, as well as converted abbeys and other church property (after the Dissolution of the Monasteries

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...

). They are in form and substance palace

Palace

A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...

s by another name, yet that term in England is generally reserved for royal or episcopal residences, however modest in comparison to the stately home.

Location

Stately homes are always located in the countryside, and their owners generally owned palatial homes in London also, in proximity to the royal court and parliament. These London residences, known as townhouse

Townhouse

A townhouse is the term historically used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries to describe a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...

s, corresponding to the hôtel particulier
Hôtel particulier
In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...

of Paris, generally took for their name the title or family name of their owner, such as Devonshire House

Devonshire House

Devonshire House in Piccadilly was the London residence of the Dukes of Devonshire in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was built for William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire in the Palladian style, to designs by William Kent...

, Grosvenor House

Grosvenor House

Grosvenor House was one of the largest private townhouses situated on London's exclusive Park Lane in the district of Mayfair. The house was the home of the Grosvenor family for more than a century...

, Spencer House

Spencer House

Spencer House is a mansion in St. James's, London.The house was commissioned by John, 1st Earl Spencer in 1756, the Earl requiring a large London house to cement his position and status. The architect he chose was John Vardy who had studied under William Kent...

, Northumberland House

Northumberland House

Northumberland House was a large Jacobean mansion in London, which was so called because for most of its history it was the London residence of the Percy family, who were the Earls and later Dukes of Northumberland, and one of England's richest and most prominent aristocratic dynasties for many...

etc. Stately homes may include parts of true fortified "castles", if the buildings have been extensively extended, as at Belvoir Castle

Belvoir Castle

Belvoir Castle is a stately home in the English county of Leicestershire, overlooking the Vale of Belvoir . It is a Grade I listed building....

and Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle

Warwick Castle is a medieval castle in Warwick, the county town of Warwickshire, England. It sits on a bend on the River Avon. The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 within or adjacent to the Anglo-Saxon burh of Warwick. It was used as a fortification until the early 17th century,...

. Castle Howard

Castle Howard

Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh...

is a misnomer, not being a castle, but a palatial residence.

Purpose

These houses were status symbol

Status symbol

A status symbol is a perceived visible, external denotation of one's social position and perceived indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols...

s for the great families of England, generally headed by great statesmen, who competed with each other to provide suitably grand settings in which to entertain members of the royal family. They were also the settings where affairs of state and party political matters were discussed informally among the ruling elite. They are termed the "seat" of their owner if he bears a title of nobility, the implication being the seat of a political powerbase, as was the true seat on the benches in the House of Lords

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

where he had a right to sit and help determine the political destiny of the nation.

Architecture

Famous architect

Architect

An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...

s and landscape architect

Landscape architect

A landscape architect is a person involved in the planning, design and sometimes direction of a landscape, garden, or distinct space. The professional practice is known as landscape architecture....

s such as Robert Adam

Robert Adam

Robert Adam was a Scottish neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam , Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him...

, Sir Charles Barry

Charles Barry

Sir Charles Barry FRS was an English architect, best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsible for numerous other buildings and gardens.- Background and training :Born on 23 May 1795 in Bridge Street, Westminster...

, Sir Edwin Lutyens

Edwin Lutyens

Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, OM, KCIE, PRA, FRIBA was a British architect who is known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era...

, Sir John Vanbrugh

John Vanbrugh

Sir John Vanbrugh – 26 March 1726) was an English architect and dramatist, perhaps best known as the designer of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He wrote two argumentative and outspoken Restoration comedies, The Relapse and The Provoked Wife , which have become enduring stage favourites...

, Capability Brown

Capability Brown

Lancelot Brown , more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape architect. He is remembered as "the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due", and "England's greatest gardener". He designed over 170 parks, many of which still endure...

and Humphry Repton

Humphry Repton

Humphry Repton was the last great English landscape designer of the eighteenth century, often regarded as the successor to Capability Brown; he also sowed the seeds of the more intricate and eclectic styles of the 19th century...

were employed to incorporate new styles into the buildings. Great art and furniture collections were built up and displayed in the houses.

Decline

The agricultural collapse towards the end of the 19th century, the First World War and then World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

changed the fortunes of many houses and their owners, and now they remain as a curious mix of living museums, part-ruined houses and castles and grand family estates.
The introduction of inheritance tax

Inheritance tax

An inheritance tax or estate tax is a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate of a person who has died...

caused many owners to relinquish ownership to the National Trust, being no longer able to afford their upkeep.

Private

Many stately homes are still owned and managed by private individuals who are descendants of their original builders, or by family trusts. The costs of running a stately home are naturally extremely high. Many owners let their properties for use as film and television sets as a means of gaining extra income, thus many of them are familiar sights to people who have never visited them in person. The grounds often contain other tourist attractions, such as safari parks, funfairs or museums. The Marquess of Bath at Longleat House in Wiltshire was the first to establish the commercial venture of a safari park in its grounds, followed by Woburn Abbey

Woburn Abbey

Woburn Abbey , near Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the seat of the Duke of Bedford and the location of the Woburn Safari Park.- Pre-20th century :...

, seat of the Dukes of Bedford.

Institutional

The following organisations own and are responsible for the upkeep of some stately homes:

English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
Treasure Houses of England
Treasure Houses of England
The Treasure Houses of England is a heritage consortium founded in the early 1970s by ten of the foremost stately homes in England still in private ownership, with the aim of marketing and promoting themselves as tourist venues....
The Landmark Trust
Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland
Historic Scotland is an executive agency of the Scottish Government, responsible for historic monuments in Scotland.-Role:As its website states:...
National Trust for Scotland
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland describes itself as the conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to...

Usage of term

Modest owners do not usually use the phrase "stately home" but are more likely to call their property a "country house", which might seem an understatement to the objective observer. "Stately home" should be a term reserved for the truly palatial residence alone, but is nowadays often misused by estate agents

Estate agent

An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting or management of properties, and other buildings, in the United Kingdom and Ireland. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent...

wishing to aggrandise houses which are grand but not palatial. The term is also used imprecisely by commentators on modern society such as Robin Leach

Robin Leach

Robin Douglas Leach is an English celebrity writer famous for hosting his first show, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, in the mid-1980s and into the mid-1990s, which focused on profiling well-known celebrities and their lavish homes, cars and other materialistic endeavors...

in Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous is a television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995. The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes and business moguls....

and parodists such as Dame Edna Everage

Dame Edna Everage

Dame Edna is a character created and played by Australian dadaist performer and comedian, Barry Humphries, famous for her lilac-coloured or "wisteria hue" hair and cat eye glasses or "face furniture," her favorite flower, the gladiola and her boisterous greeting: "Hello Possums!" As Dame Edna,...

List of English Stately Homes

The following is a list of some of the largest English country houses, termed stately homes.

Audley End House
Audley End House
Audley End House is largely an early 17th-century country house just outside Saffron Walden, Essex, south of Cambridge, England. It was once a palace in all but name and renowned as one of the finest Jacobean houses in England. Audley End is now only one-third of its original size, but is still...
Badminton House
Badminton House
Badminton House is a large country house in Gloucestershire, England, and has been the principal seat of the Dukes of Beaufort since the late 17th century, when the family moved from Raglan Castle, which had been ruined in the English Civil War...
Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace
Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between...
Blickling Hall
Blickling Hall
Blickling Hall is a stately home in the village of Blickling north of Aylsham in Norfolk, England, that has been in the care of the National Trust since 1940.-History:...
Bowood House
Bowood House
Bowood is a grade I listed Georgian country house with interiors by Robert Adam and a garden designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown. It is adjacent to the village of Derry Hill, halfway between Calne and Chippenham in Wiltshire, England...
Burghley House
Burghley House
Burghley House is a grand 16th-century country house near the town of Stamford, Lincolnshire, England...
Carlton Towers
Carlton Towers
Carlton Towers is in Carlton , North Yorkshire, England. It is a Grade I listed Victorian gothic country house designed by Edward Welby Pugin. It is the Yorkshire home of the Duke of Norfolk....
Castle Howard
Castle Howard
Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh...
Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House
Chatsworth House is a stately home in North Derbyshire, England, northeast of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield . It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549.Standing on the east bank of the...
Easton Neston
Easton Neston
Easton Neston is a country house near Towcester, Northamptonshire, England, and is part of the Easton Neston Parish. It was designed in the Baroque style by the architect Nicholas Hawksmoor. Easton Neston is thought to be the only mansion which was solely the work of Hawksmoor...
Harewood House
Harewood House
Harewood House is a country house located in Harewood , near Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is a member of Treasure Houses of England, a marketing consortium for nine of the foremost stately homes in England...
Hatfield House
Hatfield House
Hatfield House is a country house set in a large park, the Great Park, on the eastern side of the town of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, England. The present Jacobean house was built in 1611 by Robert Cecil, First Earl of Salisbury and Chief Minister to King James I and has been the home of the Cecil...
Highclere Castle
Highclere Castle
Highclere Castle is a country house in the Jacobethan style, with park designed by Capability Brown. The 1,000 acre estate is in the English county of Hampshire, about south of the border with Berkshire, and south of Newbury...
Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall
Holkham Hall is an eighteenth-century country house located adjacent to the village of Holkham, on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk...
Houghton Hall
Houghton Hall
Houghton Hall is a country house in Norfolk, England. It was built for the de facto first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and it is a key building in the history of Palladian architecture in England...
Kedleston Hall
Kedleston Hall
Kedleston Hall is an English country house in Kedleston, Derbyshire, approximately four miles north-west of Derby, and is the seat of the Curzon family whose name originates in Notre-Dame-de-Courson in Normandy...
Knebworth House
Knebworth House
Knebworth House is a country house in the civil parish of Knebworth in Hertfordshire, England.-History and description:The home of the Lytton family since 1490, when Thomas Bourchier sold the reversion of the manor to Sir Robert Lytton, Knebworth House was originally a genuine red-brick Late Gothic...
Knowsley Hall
Knowsley Hall
Knowsley Hall is a stately home near Liverpool within the Metropolitan Borough of Knowsley, in Merseyside, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II* listed building, and is the ancestral home of the Stanley family, the Earls of Derby. The hall is surrounded by of...
Knole House
Knole House
Knole is an English country house in the town of Sevenoaks in west Kent, surrounded by a deer park. One of England's largest houses, it is reputed to be a calendar house, having 365 rooms, 52 staircases, 12 entrances and 7 courtyards...
Longleat House
Mentmore Towers
Mentmore Towers
Mentmore Towers is a 19th century English country house in the village of Mentmore in Buckinghamshire. The house was designed by Joseph Paxton and his son-in-law, George Henry Stokes, in the revival Elizabethan and Jacobean style of the late 16th century called Jacobethan, for the banker and...
Montacute House
Montacute House
Montacute House is a late Elizabethan country house situated in the South Somerset village of Montacute. This house is a textbook example of English architecture during a period that was moving from the medieval Gothic to the Renaissance Classical; this has resulted in Montacute being regarded as...
Petworth House
Petworth House
Petworth House in Petworth, West Sussex, England, is a late 17th-century mansion, rebuilt in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s by Anthony Salvin...
Stowe House
Stowe House
Stowe House is a Grade I listed country house located in Stowe, Buckinghamshire, England. It is the home of Stowe School, an independent school. The gardens , a significant example of the English Landscape Garden style, along with part of the Park, passed into the ownership of The National Trust...
Welbeck Abbey
Welbeck Abbey
Welbeck Abbey near Clumber Park in North Nottinghamshire was the principal abbey of the Premonstratensian order in England and later the principal residence of the Dukes of Portland.-Monastic period:...
Wentworth Woodhouse
Wentworth Woodhouse
Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house near the village of Wentworth, in the vicinity of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. "One of the great Whig political palaces", its East Front, long, is the longest country house façade in Europe. The house includes 365 rooms and covers an...
Wilton House
Wilton House
Wilton House is an English country house situated at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire. It has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years....
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey
Woburn Abbey , near Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the seat of the Duke of Bedford and the location of the Woburn Safari Park.- Pre-20th century :...

Illustrations

The following illustrations seek to show stately homes at their maximum expanses, in approximate descending order of size:

Portrait	Name	County; Date of design; Patron
	Chatsworth House Chatsworth House Chatsworth House is a stately home in North Derbyshire, England, northeast of Bakewell and west of Chesterfield . It is the seat of the Duke of Devonshire, and has been home to his family, the Cavendish family, since Bess of Hardwick settled at Chatsworth in 1549.Standing on the east bank of the...	Devonshire; 1687; William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire KG PC was a soldier and Whig statesman, the son of William Cavendish, 3rd Earl of Devonshire and Lady Elizabeth Cecil.-Life:...
	Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace Blenheim Palace is a monumental country house situated in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It is the only non-royal non-episcopal country house in England to hold the title of palace. The palace, one of England's largest houses, was built between...	Oxfordshire; 1705; Queen Anne for John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
	Longleat House	Wiltshire; c.1570; Sir John Thynne John Thynne Sir John Thynne was the steward to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and a member of parliament. He was the builder of Longleat House and his descendants became Marquesses of Bath.-Early life:... (d.1580)
	Castle Howard Castle Howard Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, north of York. One of the grandest private residences in Britain, most of it was built between 1699 and 1712 for the 3rd Earl of Carlisle, to a design by Sir John Vanbrugh...	N. Yorkshire; 1699; Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle, PC was a British statesman and member of the peerage of England.Charles Howard was the eldest son of Edward Howard and inherited his title on the death of his father in 1692. He married in 1683 Lady Anne de Vere Capell, daughter of Arthur Capell, 1st Earl of...
	Wentworth Woodhouse Wentworth Woodhouse Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house near the village of Wentworth, in the vicinity of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. "One of the great Whig political palaces", its East Front, long, is the longest country house façade in Europe. The house includes 365 rooms and covers an...	S. Yorkshire; 1723; Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham, KB, PC was a British peer and Whig politician.Watson-Wentworth was the only son and heir of Hon...
	Kedleston Hall Kedleston Hall Kedleston Hall is an English country house in Kedleston, Derbyshire, approximately four miles north-west of Derby, and is the seat of the Curzon family whose name originates in Notre-Dame-de-Courson in Normandy...	Derbyshire; 1759; Sir Nathaniel Curzon (later 1st Baron Scarsdale) Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Baron Scarsdale Sir Nathaniel Curzon, 5th Baronet, of Kedleston, created 1st Baron Scarsdale was an English Tory politician and peer....
	Wilton House Wilton House Wilton House is an English country house situated at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire. It has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years....	Wiltshire; 1630; Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke Philip Herbert, 4th Earl of Pembroke and 1st Earl of Montgomery KG was an English courtier and politician active during the reigns of James I and Charles I...
	Petworth House Petworth House Petworth House in Petworth, West Sussex, England, is a late 17th-century mansion, rebuilt in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s by Anthony Salvin...	West Sussex; 1688; Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset , sometimes referred to as the "Proud Duke". The son of Charles Seymour, 2nd Baron Seymour of Trowbridge, and Elizabeth Alington , he succeeded his brother Francis Seymour, 5th Duke of Somerset, to the dukedom when the latter was shot in 1678... . (Altered in 1870's)
	Holkham Hall Holkham Hall Holkham Hall is an eighteenth-century country house located adjacent to the village of Holkham, on the north coast of the English county of Norfolk...	Norfolk; 1732; Thomas Coke, later 1st Earl of Leicester Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (fifth creation) Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, KB was a wealthy English land-owner and patron of the arts. He is particularly noted for commissioning the design and construction of Holkham Hall in north Norfolk. Between 1722 and 1728, he was Member of Parliament for Norfolk.He was the son of Edward Coke ... (d.1759)
	Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey Woburn Abbey , near Woburn, Bedfordshire, England, is a country house, the seat of the Duke of Bedford and the location of the Woburn Safari Park.- Pre-20th century :...	Bedfordshire; 1744; John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford KG, PC, FRS was an 18th century British statesman. He was the fourth son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham, Surrey...