Ornate fountains adorn the garden overlooked by the house
A view of the north and east fronts of Montacute
Statues standing guard in the niches
East Court garden at Montacute House, Somerset
Glittering Elizabethan mansion
Montacute’s golden stone walls were rising as Queen Elizabeth I’s golden rule was coming to a close.
Montacute was built in the late 16th century for Sir Edward Phelips, one of the prosecutors in the Guy Fawkes trial. The word ‘gloomy’ wasn’t in his vocabulary. Local Ham Hill stone gives the house its golden exterior, whilst windows covering nearly half the façade fill the interiors with light.
Take a closer look at the house, and you’ll come across some peculiar discoveries. Stone monkeys peering over the roof, Latin poetry scratched into a window pane and a bath hidden in a closet. It’s hard to believe that the house was offered 'for scrap' in 1931.
Elegant chimneys, intricate plasterwork and heraldic glass all survive, making Montacute one of our best preserved Elizabethan mansions. It provides the perfect setting for a who’s who of Tudor and Elizabethan nobility hung in the Long Gallery.
Bold and beautiful flower borders are set against the mellow stonework in the garden. And if the strangely curvy yew hedge seems familiar, you may recognise it from its supporting role in 'Sense and Sensibility' (1995).
Wander up inviting twisting pathways around the estate for idyllic views from St Michael's Hill over the surrounding area.