Remember that time I tumbled down the rabbit hole and onto a magical garden?

Well, the same thing happened again last weekend when I visited my friend Ophélie in Stamford.

We tried to stay away from Burghley House, busying ourselves with blackberry picking and other autumnal activities, but in the end, we simply couldn’t resist another visit.

This time around though, we extended our visit to include the famous Burghley House as well as its fantastic garden.

Built and mostly designed by William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I between 1555 and 1587, Burghley House is a Tudor mansion and one of the great Elizabethan stately homes.

The main part of the House has 35 major rooms on the ground and first floors, and there are more than 80 lesser rooms and numerous halls, corridors, bathrooms and service areas, and we took our time exploring every corner.

From the grand kitchen adorned with copper utensils, turtle skulls and every cake tin imaginable (and then some)…

… to the grand, striking paintings of the ‘Hell staircase’, Burghley offers a unique glimpse of the way great houses have been furnished and inhabited from the time of Queen Elizabeth I to the present day.

The many bedrooms, complete with golden furniture, intricately embroidered linnen and impressive murals, will fill you with awe and inspiration.

From the breath-taking, colossal murals up to the tiniest of details, there are many treasures to be discovered within Burghley’s walls.

There are endless corridors, taking you deeper and deeper into the house.

There’s a gorgeous, intimate billard (pool) room…

 An intricate, richly decorated chapel…

A bell room worthy of Downtown Abbey…

Dressing rooms bigger than my flat with views on the estate vast gardens…

 

But no matter how beautiful they are, none is quite as stunning as the incredible dining hall, with its intricate dark wood ceiling, floor to ceiling stained glass windows and rows of leather-bound books.

Though the inner garden comes quite close in my opinion (but it might be somewhat related to the fact that it comes with tea, cakes and all sorts of afternoon treats…)

Just a couple of hours away from London, Stamford is a brilliant destination to un-plug and explore  for a day or a weekend. Trust me, it’ll leave a stamp in your memory!

More info about Burghley House here.