Wiltshire's Longleat House celebrates 75 years of opening to the public

Longleat House opened to the public for the first time in 1949 to generate much-needed income

An exhibition celebrating the 75th anniversary of the opening of Longleat House to visitors has gone on display.

The estate has been home to the Marquesses of Bath since the 1600s and opened its gates as a tourist attraction in 1949 to provide revenue.

Memorabilia from the archive include the original 'House Open' sign, press cuttings, postcards and guidebooks.

The public are being asked to share their memories of visiting the house, especially in the early days.

"It was a chance for people to see behind the curtains," said curator, Dr James Ford.

"Prior to that there were very few opportunities for the general public to ever see inside the great stately homes of England."

The 6th Marquess helped to sell programmes at Longleat House in the 1940s

Highlights of a visit to Longleat in 1949 included stepping through the great front doors for a tour of the house, perhaps led by Lady Bath herself, and a visit to the café in the former chapel to enjoy a set luncheon or high tea.

Lord Bath, the 8th Marquess, said: "When my grandfather, Henry, decided to open Longleat as a tourist attraction back in 1949 he was blazing a trail.

"It was a family affair. On opening day, he directed traffic, my grandmother sold the entry tickets and the children, my father and his siblings, sold the guidebooks, which had been written by their mother.

"They couldn't have known just how popular Longleat would become; from 138,000 visitors during that first season, we now welcome almost a million visitors each year."

Longleat House attracted 138,000 visitors in the first year of opening and now welcomes nearly a million annually

Great success

The family made the decision to open after the 5th Marquess of Bath died in 1946 and his son and heir, Henry, the 6th Marquess, was left with huge death duties to pay.

He sold off significant portions of the estate and was left with a core of 10,000 acres, but was still left with the question of how to make the house pay for itself.

He had experience running Cheddar Gorge Caves in Somerset in the 1930s, which prompted the decision to open Longleat to the public.

"We've got lots of letters in the archive of people who visited," said Dr Ford.

"Britain was still very grey and gloomy after the Second World War, with rationing still in place.

"To be able to see these houses that contained magnificent objects of a bygone period was an uplifting thing for people," he added.

The 6th Marquess and Marchioness filmed a BBC documentary about Longleat at Alexandra Palace two years after the house had opened to the public

The 6th Marquess was a pioneering estate manager and by 1966 he had opened the Longleat Safari Park, the first outside Africa, with the help of Jimmy Chipperfield, the circus entrepreneur.

"It's that pioneering spirit and way of forward-looking to find the next thing to introduce to our guests that's still very much alive at Longleat," said Dr Ford.

"Generations of families have come to Longleat at different periods in its evolution, and they look forward to bringing their children and grandchildren to continue that tradition.

• Longleat welcomes southern koala from Hong Kong

• In pictures: Longleat Sky Safari

• Photos from WW2 give 'new insights' into estate

Visitors to the exhibition will also be able to enjoy the regular displays charting the much earlier history of the house over 500 years.

"We have internationally significant collections here and visitors can see paintings and pieces of furniture that would be at home in any major national gallery or museum.

"It's an important moment for the present family to look back and see how much has developed in that period, but also to look forward and start planning the next 75 years to keep it relevant and at the forefront of visitor attractions," added Dr Ford.

The exhibition runs until 17 July and the public are being asked to contribute photographs or memories of visiting Longleat in the early days.

The café staff in 1949 offered a set luncheon or high tea to visitors in the former chapel