Longleat owners planning new luxury family garden
It's thought it would allow Lord and Lady Bath to remain on-site residents
Wiltshire Council has received plans for a luxurious family garden which will allow Lord and Lady Bath to remain residents on Longleat Estate.
Detailed images have been submitted which show that the garden would include a swimming pool and an outdoor kitchen and dining area.
Although Longleat Estate is a national heritage asset and the majority of the house is open to public tours, a range of accommodation on the western elevation is set aside for Lord and Lady Bath.
When the 7th Marquis, Alexander Thynn, passed away during the Covid pandemic, the 8th Marquis, Ceawlin Thynn, moved into the apartments with his family.
The plans explain that the current private garden was designed by the 7th Marquis as “an abstract art piece” which is “largely unsuitable for a younger family with limited space for children to play or adults to entertain guests”.
The application states: “The aim is to create a high-quality, family-friendly garden befitting of the setting which will enable the house to remain a family home and a living part of history.”
It adds: “The proposed design provides a modern formal garden and will include a swimming pool, a wrought-iron pergola covering an outdoor kitchen and dining area, an antique feature urn, a water rill, ornamental planting beds, an enclosed and screened pool plant room and new trees, hedges and topiary along with more naturalistic areas of wildflower turf and long grasses at the edges of the garden.”
The private garden was first enclosed by hedges in the 1940s in preparation for the opening of the estate to the public in 1949.
According to the application, this has now matured to be a 3m-high thick hedge “which creates a well-secluded private garden at the centre of a busy commercial attraction”.
The current garden design was created for the 7th Marquess, Alexander Thynn, by Laurence Fleming in the mid-1960s, and is loosely based on the Chinese philosophy of Yin and Yang.
The new concept design has been developed by Will Williams, in collaboration with Lord and Lady Bath.
A document submitted with the plans notes that it is “imperative” that all heritage assets are “properly protected” during construction.
Wiltshire Council is expected to provide the family with a planning decision by the end of March.