Wilton House

Common card · No. 216038

Wilton House is an English country house at Wilton near Salisbury in Wiltshire, which has been the country seat of the Earls of Pembroke for over 400 years. It was built on the site of the medieval Wilton Abbey. Following the dissolution of the monasteries, Henry VIII presented Wilton Abbey and its attached estates to William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke. The house has literary associations. Shakespeare's theatre company performed there (As You Like It may have been the chosen work), and there was an important literary salon culture under its occupation by Mary Sidney, wife of the second Earl. The present Grade I listed house is the result of rebuilding after a 1647 fire, although a small part of the earlier house built for William Herbert survives. Alterations were made in the early 19th and early 20th centuries. The house stands in gardens and a park which are also Grade I listed. Although it is still a family home, the house and grounds are open to visitors during the summer months.

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