Seminars and company events
Burghley House offers meetings, conferences, away days and dinners for up to 160 people theatre style and 180 standing in its Great Hall, in a 16th-century house less than a mile from the market town of Stamford. Smaller groups use the Cheke Room, for 60 theatre style or 24 around a boardroom table, and the Ascham Room, for 30 theatre style or 16 boardroom.
The Brewhouse, a contemporary building beside the house with an entrance pavilion of glass, steel and oak, has two conference rooms for seminars and smaller meetings. The Dairy, a 19th-century building in the park, can be hired for corporate away days with exclusive use for 8 or 24 hours, catering packages and the technology a working day needs. Team-building packages can be added to a program, and the events team guides each client through menus and planning.
Weddings and receptions
Burghley can be booked exclusively for the whole wedding day and has three licensed ceremony rooms. The Great Hall takes up to 110 guests for a ceremony or wedding breakfast, or 42 around the Victorian banqueting table where Queen Victoria and Prince Albert dined in 1844. The Bow Room seats 80 for a ceremony, and the Summer House, looking over the lake in the South Gardens, 27. Evening receptions move to the 18th-century Orangery, for up to 160, with drinks in the Rose Garden in summer or in the Old Kitchen.
Ceremonies in the Great Hall and Bow Room take place on Fridays from March to October and on any day from November to February. The Summer House is available on Saturdays from March to October. Each couple works with a dedicated wedding planner and a list of recommended suppliers.
Rooms and capacities
The Great Hall has a double hammer-beam roof and a Tudor fireplace. It seats 110 for dinner, takes 160 theatre style and 180 standing. The Orangery Restaurant seats 70 and holds 140 standing, with daylight and views over the Rose Garden and parkland. The Cheke Room and the Ascham Room serve as meeting rooms. Private dinners, drinks receptions and summer barbecues in the Rose Garden are also offered for birthdays, anniversaries and family gatherings.
Accommodation
The Dairy, set in the Capability Brown parkland with the house as its backdrop, has 10 bedrooms for up to 20 guests and suits a board retreat or a wedding party. The estate also runs The William Cecil, with 26 rooms beside the entrance gates to the park, and The Bull and Swan, an inn with nine bedrooms.
Catering
Catering is handled by Burghley's in-house team, which builds menus around local and seasonal produce, from canapés and drinks receptions to a full seated dinner. Away-day catering packages are available at The Dairy.
History and setting
Burghley was built in the second half of the 16th century for William Cecil, Lord Burghley, chief minister to Elizabeth I, and his family still lives there. The house stands at the heart of a 13,000-acre estate, with a deer park, parkland laid out by Capability Brown, gardens and art collections shown in the state rooms.
Getting there
Burghley is less than a mile from Stamford and a few miles from the A1, which gives road access from the north and south. Stamford station has direct trains to Peterborough, Leicester, Birmingham and Stansted Airport, and Peterborough has fast trains to London King's Cross.
