Burghley House is one of the largest and grandest surviving houses of the sixteenth century and a magnificent example of the great Elizabethan ‘prodigy’ houses. Conceived by William Cecil, Lord High Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth 1, between 1555 and 1587, it is a testament to the ambition and vision of the most powerful courtier of the first Elizabethan age. With its dramatic skyline and towering obelisk clock tower, it was built to impress and the State Rooms on the first floor…