Sunday's spotlight - Burghley House

By guest blogger Pete

Far down in the southernmost part of Lincolnshire can be found the large Elizabethan stately home of Burghley House. I didn't ever think I will be writing about Burghley House even as a passing comment in this blog but nevertheless here I am mentioning it as the main feature of this Sunday's writings.

Photo by Acradenia

I'll begin with a confession. Burghley House is a place that I have never visited. Having said that, or rather written it, it might well be a place worth visiting when Pam's sister, Ann, and her husband, Alan, visit us next year. Burghley House can be found about a mile from the major A1 road and close to the market town of Stamford.  It is a "Nirvana" of three days for horse lovers: For them it is a place that must be visited at least once a year.

I write "for horse lovers " because Burghley House and estate is a location for  the famous horse trials well-known throughout not only the U.K. but also the rest of Europe. The local Radio Lincolnshire provided some interesting bits of information about the event which recently took place.

Photo by ~Duncan~

 There are only four four-star horse trial event centres in the country and Burghley is one of them.

 Over the three days it attracts something in the region of 140,000 visitors.



A tented shopping mall of considerable size is a major part of the event. Many visitors use it for their Christmas shopping. It really is that large. I suppose they could argue that doing your shopping there isn't really avoiding the Christmas rush because many of things you'll find at Burghley will not be easily found elsewhere.

This year a local rider qualified to take part in the horse trials. Her stable borders the Burghley boundaries and she can see the House quite clearly from her home. She is one of the few who didn't have to struggle to find accommodation. However she did have to stable her horses within the Burghley estate even though their home stables are so close.  This is a requirement put in place to protect against drug abuse.

There is one jump on the course where the rider takes off in Lincolnshire and lands in Cambridgeshire.

Although the house was built for Queen Elizabeth the first it was never used by her because its completion came after her death.

Have you ever been there?