View of Longleat by Jan Siberechts, (1627‑c.1700)

1678 Jan Siberechts, (Flemish-born English artist, 1627‑c.1700) View of Longleat. The site had previously been an Augustinian priory, those buildings were destroyed by fire in 1567. In 1529 the priory which formerly stood on the site of the present Longleat House was dissolved; and in 1546, the site, together with its mill, was purchased by Sir John Thynne who had begun to accumulate land and property.  Thynne purchased the rundown priory, 60 acres of land, a rabbit warren and an orchard for the grand sum of £53.  After Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, the former medieval priory of the Black Canons & its grounds were purchased by Thynne. When the priory burned down in 1567, Thynne, who had been knighted in 1547, decided to build a house that was a fitting seat for his newly titled family. The house he built designed by Robert Symthson (c 1536-1614), reflected the new Italian-style sat beside the brook which had powered the mill. The result, together with its enclosed formal gardens, is recorded in paintings by Jan Seberechts, dated 1675-8, which show the house and grounds surrounded by an enclosed park grazed by deer. & looked out towards the magnificent grounds rather than in towards the courtyard. It has retained the same exterior appearance since Sir John’s death in 1580.  From 1683 a great formal garden in the Franco-Dutch style was laid out. The 1st Viscount Weymouth commissioned George London to transform & extend the 14 acre orchard on the east side of the house into an impressive Baroque style garden, filled with canals, parterres, statues & fountains. This included a canal section of the brook, fountains, mazes, plats, & a large wilderness plantation known as The Grove. 

Jan Siberechts (1627–1703) was born in Antwerp, the son of a sculptor with the same name. After establishing himself as an artist in Flanders, he moved to England during his forties.  Siberechts was one of scores of Dutch & Flemish artists who came to Britain in the 17C. He was baptized in Antwerp in 1627.  He was elected to the Guild of St Luke in 1648. By 1674, he was in England, apparently at the encouragement of George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, who had seen some of Siberechts's landscapes in Antwerp in 1670. The artist was a Catholic, & one of his daughters became a lace-maker for the Queen.  He was best known in England as a painter of topographical views of country houses & more general landscapes.  He seems to have traveled widely in Britain, and was in Wales in 1696. He remained in England until his death.