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About the Tour
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This tour is intended to give you an overview of the house and some of its contents. You will see rooms on this site (such as the State Rooms) which are not included in the real tour of Boughton House You can follow a structured tour by clicking the 'Next Room' link at the bottom of each page, or you can choose any room to view by using the Tour Index (upper right). The Item Information Window (lower right), provides you with text information about the link items.
We hope you enjoy your tour of Boughton House. |
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The transformation of Boughton from a 15th Century Monastic building into one of the great houses of Europe 250 years later is a colourful story best illustrated by the rich variety of the architecture and the superb quality of the contents. The impressive North front with its classical French lines gives Boughton the appearance of a complete Chateau on arrival at the main entrance, but this masks a characteristically English structure of almost village-like proportions. |
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North Front of Boughton House
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It was from St.Edmunsbury's Abbey that |
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![]() Ralph 1st Duke of Montagu
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The culmination of this expansion came in the 1690's,
with the creation of the North front, incorporating entrance
halls, state rooms and stables, by |
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Without the continuous loving care of generations of family occupants, skilled craftsmen and the financial backing of an efficiently managed rural estate, house and villages would soon fall victim to the ever present threats of death watch beetle, dry rot and decay. The special attraction of Boughton lies in the harmonious blending of the superb collections of paintings, furniture, tapestries, needlework, carpets, porcelain, arms and silver. All these in a setting of extreme beauty with a magical atmosphere to match, just as the artists, craftsmen and discriminating collectors had intended. These are the furnishings for a living home, for real people in their correct historical context. It is not a lifeless showcase, but a reminder to future generations of some of the higher cultural aspirations and achievements of civilised man. |
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