Coronavirus: Burghley House will not re-open until 2021

A spokesperson said: "It is with enormous regret that as a result of the Covid-19 outbreak we have taken the difficult decision not to re-open the house to visitors this year. This is because of the relatively small size of some rooms, narrow routes and physical restrictions on two-way access, meaning that appropriate measures to observe social distancing are not possible."

Miranda Rock, house director, said: "With a heavy heart and after much discussion about the practicalities of movement through the State Rooms, we have taken the difficult decision not to re-open the house to visitors this year. This conclusion was not reached without careful discussion and consideration of all the challenges that we would face in complying with social distancing. At the end of the day, a visit to Burghley is meant to be enjoyable and we did not feel that we could offer our visitors a high-quality experience."

The Burghley House Preservation Trust said it will use the time the Elizabethan property is closed to make sure that some of the more complex and time-consuming repairs are addressed.

The gardens are currently closed but may re-open in the summer.

The parkland will remain open daily from 7am to 6pm, free of charge. All other facilities including the Orangery restaurant, garden café, gift shop, garden shop and toilets remain closed.

For more information, visit: https://burghley.co.uk/news/covid-19-coronavirus-update.