Longleat House, the Warminster home of the Thynne family for over 400 years, first opened its doors to the public on April 1 1949 and this year marks its 60th year of opening.
To celebrate the anniversary, 110 former schoolgirls from The Royal School for Daughters of Officers in the Army held a school reunion at the house yesterday.
Opening the estate to the public was the brainchild of the 6th Marquess of Bath, Lord Henry Thynne, who, following the death of his father in 1946, had to find a way to bring extra income into the estate to pay for the enormous tax bill of £700,000 (about £22m in today’s money).
The estate in Warminster was the first house in the UK to open to the public on a fully commercial basis.
It was the 5th Marquess, Thomas Thynne, who originally welcomed the school to Longleat after the Government commandeered their school in Bath as part of the war efforts.
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