Art Pursuits

specialists in cultural tours, study days, short courses and private views of historic houses

Art Pursuits Study Tour Programme

Stamford and North Northamptonshire
28 – 31 May 2008

Day 1	Arrive in Stamford after lunch, for a walk around this magnificent historic town, exploring the ancient streets with their beautifully preserved limestone buildings, including an exceptionally fine collection of mediaeval churches. Dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Day 2	By coach to visit Drayton House (by special appointment). This is an extraordinary place, not nearly as well-known as it should be. It has a mediaeval origin, but is especially important for its extravagant Baroque makeover in the late 17th and early 18th centuries and its wonderful series of interiors. After lunch (included) at Lowick and a tour of Lowick church (in Simon Jenkins's top 100), we visit Deene Park (by special appointment), a fascinating Tudor and Georgian house developed from a mediaeval manor, and Kirby Hall, once a magnificent Elizabethan mansion, now an evocative semi-ruin. Return to Stamford and independent dinner.
Day 3	Coach excursion to Milton, near Peterborough, to see Milton Hall, home of the Fitzwilliam family (by special appointment), a grand late Elizabethan house remodelled in the Georgian period by Henry Flitcroft and Sir William Chambers, set in Picturesque pleasure grounds designed by Humphry Repton. Continue to Fotheringhay, site of the imprisonment and execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, to see the remains of the spectacular 15th-century collegiate church of St Mary and All Saints. After lunch (independent) we visit Apethorpe Hall (by special appointment), a major country house with one of the finest sets of Jacobean interiors in the country. Wilfully neglected in the late-20th century, Apethorpe became a conservation cause célèbre, but happily the house is currently being repaired after compulsory purchase in 2002. Return to Stamford and dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Day 4	In the morning we have a special private tour of Burghley House on the edge of Stamford, set in a beautiful deer park landscaped by 'Capability' Brown. Burghley's outstanding Elizabethan exterior is little altered, and the Baroque interiors contain a superb collection of art treasures. Our tour concludes here.

Please note that at this stage the programme is still provisional. Although we aim at the greatest degree of accuracy from the outset, some details, especially the order of visits, may be subject to change.