Explore the House
Enjoy a house steeped in history, built by Robert Cecil, in the grounds where Queen Elizabeth I spent much of her childhood.
The Long Gallery
This gallery now runs the entire length of the South Front, having been lengthened to 170 feet (51.8 m) in 1781. The rooms at each end were opened up by the removal of party walls and the insertion of tall, wooden pillars.
The Long Gallery
The ceiling, originally white, was covered with gold leaf by the 2nd Marquess, who had been impressed by a gold ceiling he had seen in Venice.
In the lighted wall cabinet are some magnificent pieces, carved out of rock crystal and decorated with rubies, pearls and gold. Works like these were displayed as splendid table ornaments in the households of great noblemen and Renaissance princes. These pieces belonged to Robert Cecil; some of them he inherited from Lord Burghley.
The hat, gloves and stockings in the case at the far end of the Long Gallery were traditionally believed to have belonged to Queen Elizabeth I. When contemporaries described her, they often mentioned her long, thin fingers, which were much admired.
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