Phil Spencer's Stately Homes

Episode 1: Longleat
Phil returns to look round more of Britain’s stately homes, beginning at Longleat.

Architecture expert Phil Spencer returns to look around more of Great Britain’s exclusive stately homes. He begins at Longleat House in Wiltshire, home to the Viscount of Weymouth. Phil hears tales of lovesick ghosts as he surveys Longleat’s lavish interior design, sees some of the most elaborate gardens in history and learns how the building was originally built to impress Queen Elizabeth I.

Episode 2: Belvoir Castle
In Leicestershire, Phil tries some medieval pest control at Belvoir Castle.

When is a stately home not a stately home? When it’s a stately castle! Architecture expert Phil Spencer visits Belvoir Castle, where he tries some medieval pest control. He uncovers evidence of an aristocratic sex scandal painted on the ceiling and searches for a lost railway under the building. He also hears about the astronomical cost of the building’s original construction work.

Episode 3: Houghton Hall
Phil is off to Norfolk to visit a grand pile built by Britain’s first prime minister.

Architecture fan Phil Spencer is off to Norfolk, where he’s been invited by Lord David Cholmondeley to visit Houghton Hall built for Britain’s first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole. He discovers the jaw dropping cost of the building and interior design, including a giant silver bed. He also hears the history of a disreputable member of the Walpole family who sold the family art collection.

Episode 4: Blenheim
Phil Spencer explores Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, birthplace of Winston Churchill.

Architecture expert Phil Spencer explores Blenheim Palace, birthplace and ancestral home of British prime minister Winston Churchill. As Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill explains, it was originally a gift to the Marlborough family from their friend Queen Anne. He also hears the disastrous history of the building’s construction and works out how much the entire project would cost in modern money.