Boughton House

History

The house has belonged to the Montagu family since the early sixteenth century, and it passed by marriage into the Dukes of Buccleuch, who still hold it today. Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, remodelled the house in the late seventeenth century after serving as English ambassador in Paris, adding grand French-influenced ranges. The remodelling earned Boughton the nickname 'the English Versailles'. The result is a house that grew in layers, with a Tudor core wrapped in baroque grandeur.

Architecture

Boughton combines an early Tudor house with late seventeenth-century additions in a French baroque style, commissioned by Ralph Montagu. Its state rooms retain much of their original decorative scheme.

Worth knowing

The house holds part of the Buccleuch Collection, with paintings, tapestries and furniture assembled over several centuries by the Montagu and Buccleuch families. Its French-inspired architecture and interiors have long drawn comparisons to Versailles.

Gardens & grounds

The gardens and wider park have been restored over recent decades, with lakes, waterways, avenues of trees, and landscaped grounds set within the historic setting.