Special Events at Stowe House
Twilight Tour: Festivity and revelry – Royal visits to Stowe House
Sunday 19th May 7.30pm-9.00pm
In the wake of a very royal 2012 Stowe House is conjuring the magic of the royal festivities of last year by hosting a thoroughly Royal twilight tour on Sunday 19th May. Come and enjoy one of our series of evening tours of Stowe House with our one of our knowledgeable Tour Guides. Experience the state rooms in the early evening and lose yourself in the Georgian atmosphere. The tour is a delicious romp through historic Royal visits to Stowe, including the most infamous visit, that of Queen Victoria and Price Albert in 1848. Come and find out what is involved in hosting a member of the Royal family in your Country House and discover why the Queen so despised the Temple Grenville family. The tour will include a rare access to the most beautiful but intimate of all our rooms; Sir John Soane’s Gothic Library.
Tickets: £10 including wine and canapés. Pre-booking essential. Limited ticket numbers available. See www.stowehouse.org for more information or telephone 01280 818002 to book tickets. All tour information is subject to change. Tickets are non-refundable.
Twilight Tour: Art & Architecture in the Country House
Sunday 16th June 7.00pm-8.30pm
Come and explore Stowe House in the early evening with one of our knowledgeable tour guides and discover the art and architecture housed in one of the most remarkable buildings of the 18th century. The fine neo-classical architecture of Stowe House provides a stunning backdrop to the history of the people responsible for its creation. Our tour will introduce you to these larger than life characters through the paintings on display; there will be stories of extravagance, scandal, intrigue and the exotic to whet your appetite.
Tickets: £10 including wine and canapés. Pre-booking essential. Limited ticket numbers available. See www.stowehouse.org for more information or telephone 01280 818002 to book tickets. All tour information is subject to change. Tickets are non-refundable.
The Holt Hotel is offers Stowe House visitors the following guaranteed accommodation rates:
| standard double/twin room (two people): |
from £69.00 |
| executive single: |
from £59.00 |
Room rates are subject to VAT at 20%, and include complimentary full English breakfast and are per room per night.
© Stowe House Preservation Trust
Stowe is set in the beautiful countryside of North Buckinghamshire, three miles outside the old county town of Buckingham. All visitors to Stowe House enter through the National Trust Stowe Gardens visitor entrance, New Inn. Please note that the Gardens at Stowe are owned by the National Trust and a separate admission charge is in place for these. Please allow ample time for your visit to Stowe and enjoy your Garden visit while making your way to the House. To arrange House only entry,
© Stowe House Preservation Trust
please telephone Visitor Services ahead of visiting on 01280 818002
Top five House highlights!
Scandal
• discover the scandal of the Duke who amassed the greatest debts in the world
Delight
• be enchanted by the delightful scenes of nature in our State Music Room
© Stowe House Preservation Trust
Childhood• see inside the school where Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh spent his childhood
Celebrity
• find out why Queen Victoria thought this palace was too luxurious
© Stowe House Preservation Trust
even for royalty
Excess
• marvel at our amazing domed ceiling inspired by the ancient Pantheon in Rome
Discover the hidden secrets inside!
If you had power and riches, how would you use them?
In the 18th century, the powerful Temple-Grenville family chose to create an idyllic landscape filled with temples. Amidst these enchanting gardens, they built the most lavish temple of all, Stowe House. This temple was so grand that even Queen Victoria was bewildered by its interiors. Filled with astonishing rooms imitating ancient worlds
© Stowe House Preservation Trust
and classical ruins, the House reflects the flamboyant and colourful characters of its creators. Ceilings and walls decorated with hidden messages and mythology hint at the family’s former power and glory.
But wealth and power do not last forever. Excessive spending led to bankruptcy. Extravagant parties, royal visits and Italian Grand Tours gave way to scandal, intrigue and eventually abandonment. The richest family in England became the greatest debtors in the world.
In 1922, in the face of demolition, Stowe School saved the building from certain destruction. Unlike the loss and decline of many English country houses, Stowe House found a new and revived use for the 20th and 21st centuries as a school for
© Stowe House Preservation Trust
boys and girls.
Stowe House Preservation Trust was established in 1997 to restore the House and share this special place with the world. We work in collaboration with the National Trust and Stowe School to open Stowe to you as a complete estate. Come inside the House to see the results of one of the most pioneering restoration projects of the 21st century and glimpse inside one of the most
© Stowe House Preservation Trust
excessive homes in England!
“One of Britain’s finest eighteenth-century houses…” His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales
To learn more about Stowe House, please click here. To check opening times, please click here. For a ‘taste’ of Stowe House, please click here.
© Stowe House Preservation Trust
The Holt Hotel is a fifteenth century tastefully refurbished coaching inn with 86 ensuite bedrooms, award winning restaurant and relaxing bar, nine acres of grounds and extensive free cctv monitored car parking and is just under twenty one miles easy drive to Stowe House.
To book your accommodation at The Holt Hotel and learn more about our great hotel, please click here.
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