Pride and Prejudice

Burleigh House is one of the best examples of an Elizabethan manor in England. Located just outside of Stamford it was used for filming of the recent Pride and Prejudice film and the upcoming DaVinci Code. We started our tour (with Andy as tour guide) with a stroll around the grounds, seeing the Lions Gate Bridge, many deer, and Cedar of Lebanon trees (as in the picture). Adjacent to the "House" is a Sculpture Garden. It is a large garden area (trees, flower beds, shrubs, grass, a stream and lots of trails) and scattered throughout are several dozen contemporary sculptures (our favourite was the one in the tree!). After lunch in the restaurant, we walked through the formal garden - the topiary was fabulous!
Finally, we headed inside to tour the house itself. I don't know how it could be called a house - it was huge! The kitchen alone was the size of my house! There were over 700 paintings, not including the painted walls and ceilings (one such room was the dining room used in Pride and Prejudice). The final part of the tour told us the history of one of the more recent "Lord Burleigh"s. He was a gold medal winner in the 1928 Olympics , silver in 1932, and also won in the Commonwealth Games in Hamilton!