Exhibitions

The rich and varied collections at Longleat House have been formed by the Thynne family over nearly five centuries. Our programme of exhibitions give you the opportunity to see items which are not normally on display, including material from the Longleat Archives and Libraries and objects too fragile to display on a permanent basis.

In Pride and Prejudice (1813), Jane Austen – born 250 years ago this year – describes the fashionable Regency pursuit of visiting a grand country house and its grounds when Elizabeth Bennet, and her aunt and uncle, tour Pemberley, Mr Darcy’s home, as sightseers.

Drawing on records from the Longleat Archives, this exhibition will explore how similar visits took place at Longleat, where the 2nd Marquess of Bath was one of the first owners of a grand house to open his park gates, and hall door, to such interested parties.

Highlights will include Humphry Repton’s 1804 ‘Red Book’ for Longleat, which features a watercolour of day trippers picnicking in Longleat Park. Also on display will be a visitor’s book from 1836, in which the signature of Jane Austen’s nephew, Rev. J. E. Austen, has recently been discovered.

Could Jane Austen herself have visited Longleat?