Think ‘Bridgerton’ or ‘Saltburn’ are scandalous? Here’s the sordid history behind these English country homes

Through the rise and fall of the British Empire and into the 21st century, England’s country houses remain elegant symbols of aristocracy and wealth. Our fascination lies not only with their beauty, created by legends such as architect Inigo Jones and landscaper Capability Brown, but also with their social and political histories—especially those of the families who lived in them. The intrigues and assignations that unfolded in ballrooms and bedrooms are as compelling as the soapiest Bridgerton storyline or Saltburn plot twist. Here are the stories of six such estates now open to the public.

Wilton House, Wiltshire

Considered one of Britain’s finest examples of Palladian architecture, Wilton House has served as a backdrop for both melodrama and murder, the latter involving the seventh Earl of Pembroke, Philip Herbert (1652-1683). The hot-tempered earl, who owned 52 mastiffs, 30 greyhounds, and one lion, was accused of several violent crimes during his time at Wilton, including impaling a jury foreman on his own sword and kicking another man to death.

“You didn’t want to get on the wrong side of the seventh,” says Ben Cowell, director general of Historic Houses, a nonprofit organization representing 1,600 such landmarks in the United Kingdom. But Herbert got away with it, avoiding punishment thanks to his rank and privilege as a peer of the realm. 

In this century, Wilton went Hollywood. Its beautiful interiors and impressive south facade, designed by Inigo Jones and John Webb in 1647, appear in episodes of The Crown and especially Bridgerton. The Double Cube Room, named for its symmetrical proportions which Cowell describes as “truly stupendous,” serves as Queen Charlotte’s throne room in the Netflix hit series. 

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How to visit: Wilton, near Salisbury, is open to visitors from March through December. Many come to see its artworks, including its Van Dyke portraits, and explore its 22 acres of gardens and grounds. Cowell suggests looking for the front hall statue of William Shakespeare, whose company performed at Wilton in 1603. 

Chatsworth, Derbyshire

At Chatsworth, history, scandal, and aristocratic intrigue converge against a timeless backdrop shaped by the visionary 18th-century gardener Lancelot “Capability” Brown. The estate dates from 1687 but underwent many alterations including to its grounds, planned by Brown. 

In 1774, the house became associated with Georgiana Spencer (the great-great-great-great aunt of Diana Spencer) when she became the Duchess of Devonshire after marrying the fifth Duke of Devonshire, William Cavendish. Georgiana was celebrated for her stylish parties, political acumen, prodigious gambling addiction, and unconventional love life. The duke’s mistress Lady Elizabeth “Bess” Foster was one of Georgiana's best friends and also, possibly, her lover. A polyamorous arrangement kept the three living together for years until Georgiana's death in 1806. Bess kept a lock of the late duchess‘s hair around her neck until the day she died in 1824. 

In the 20th century, Deborah “Debo” Mitford, one of the famous Mitford sisters, became another celebrated duchess of Devonshire. Her sisters included an author (Nancy), a communist (Jessica), and a Nazi sympathizer (Unity) suspected of a romantic fling with Adolf Hitler. 

How to visit: Debo is credited with rejuvenating Chatsworth, located 20 miles southwest of Sheffield, and transforming it into an attraction drawing 600,000 visitors yearly. The grounds feature overnight accommodations in estate cottages, aka “boltholes,” and shepherd's huts.

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Althorp House, Northamptonshire

Star-crossed Diana Spencer, the late Princess of Wales, who riveted the world with her tangled romances, telegenic appearance, and tragic death, grew up in Althorp House, about 75 miles northwest of central London. “Weirdly,” Cowell says, “the name is pronounced Awl-trop.” (Diana’s brother, Charles, the current Earl of Spencer, specifies this pronunciation.) 

The family home for more than five centuries, the 13,000-acre estate got going in 1508 when prospering sheep farmer Sir John Spencer acquired the first parcels of land. Since then, it has been passed down through 19 generations. The house, initially a 1688 Tudor structure, underwent several architectural transformations with the grounds encompassing woodlands, farms, and an ornamental lake—its island holds Princess Diana’s final resting place where a Doric temple bears her name. 

How to visit: Opened to the public since 1953, Althorp House welcomes guests during the summer months, typically from July to September. The house’s interior provides them an opportunity to explore its history and the legacy of its prominent inhabitants as well as the family’s collection of furniture and paintings. Cowell suggests hunting for the Rubens, Reynolds, and Gainsboroughs. 

Diana’s grave site is closed to visitors, but there is a memorial on the grounds where they can pay their respects to the mother of Princes Harry and William, the current heir to the British throne.

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Harewood House, Yorkshire

The institution of slavery tainted the massive profits that built the fortunes of the sugar-trading Earls of Harewood. The construction of their eponymous thousand-acre estate in northern England in 1751, featuring furniture supplied by Thomas Chippendale and landscaping by Capability Brown, was funded by the labor of enslaved peoples. Edwin Lascelles (1713-1795), an important sugar producer, and his family owned or controlled 24 plantations in Barbados and other Caribbean islands. Over 3,000 enslaved individuals were forced to toil in the Lascelles cane fields and in their sugar refineries until the British Empire finally abolished slavery in 1838. In 1922, Henry Lascelles married Princess Mary, daughter of King George V, further entwining the family's legacy with British royalty. 

The current Earl of Harewood, David Henry George Lascelles, has taken steps to confront his family's troubling past with educational initiatives aimed at raising awareness about the estate's connection with the transatlantic slave trade. Lascelles is also a member of the Heirs of Slavery group, advocating for reparative justice. 

How to visit: Today, Harewood House’s gardens and estate are open to the public. Exhibits highlight the Lascelles family’s history as well as the lives of enslaved Africans.

Cliveden, Berkshire

Cliveden has a tumultuous history marked by feuds, flames, and political cabals that belie its handsome facade. The house was built in 1666 as a “hunting box” for the Countess of Shrewsbury, mistress to the Duke of Buckingham who killed her husband in a 1668 duel. 

Following a destructive fire in 1851, the current house was reconstructed and later sold in 1893 by the Duke of Westminster to William Astor, an American plutocrat. His son Waldorf and Waldorf’s wife, Nancy, fashioned Cliveden into an influential Edwardian social hub that spanned the political, cultural, and business worlds on both sides of the Atlantic. 

Nancy, a fabled host and first female member of Parliament, entertained guests such as Henry James, Edith Wharton, Charlie Chaplin, and, in the late 1930s, United States Ambassador Joe Kennedy and his family—including future president John F. Kennedy. The Astor gatherings weren’t without controversy. Many of their friends were believed to be Nazi sympathizers.

In 1961, the house would become central to another political firestorm after British Secretary of State John Profumo met 19-year-old party fixture Christine Keeler at a Cliveden party and began an adulterous affair. Keeler was also involved with a Soviet spy. Uproar around the story led to Profumo's resignation and contributed to Prime Minister Harold Macmillan’s own. 

How to visit: Today, Cliveden is a five-star hotel about 30 miles west of London. Travelers can explore its history through 30-minute tours on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays between March and October. The grounds are also open to visitors, inviting them to wander and conjure up the legendary parties and political deals that occurred here.

Knole, Kent

Knole, the sprawling Jacobean-era estate owned by the Sackville-West family, holds a prominent place in English LGBTQ+ history as the ancestral home of Vita Sackville-West, the writer and gardener whose lesbian love affair with author Virginia Woolf set tongues wagging in the 1920s. 

Originally built between 1456 and 1486 by an Archbishop of Canterbury, Knole at one point was a royal residence frequented by Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. In 1605, Elizabethan power broker Thomas Sackville purchased the place. With 400 rooms, Knole House is larger than Buckingham Palace. 

But it is Woolf and Sackville-West, and their artistic circle known as the Bloomsbury Group, that have the most famous ties with Knole—though Vita would never inherit her girlhood home thanks to primogeniture. After her marriage, she and her bisexual husband, diplomat Harold Nicolson, lived elsewhere. 

How to visit: Knole’s curator, Eleanor Black, says the thousand-acre estate about 40 miles southeast of London is “accessible to the public 24/7,” with visitors invited to explore the grounds. (The Beatles did just that in 1967, filming a short for their song “Strawberry Fields” on the estate.) Though home to a new generation of Sackville-Wests, visitors can tour its showrooms, an assemblage Black describes as “a work of art put together with furniture, tapestry, and paintings.” Among numerous family portraits is one of John Frederick Sackville by Joshua Reynolds, but Black’s favorite is of Arabella Cope, John’s wife. “It’s a lovely painting of a formidable woman,” she says. The house serves as a set location for the current gay-themed Tudor tattler Mary & George on Starz.