1540 - Sir John Thynne purchases 60 acres for £58 which included the medieval priory of the Black Canons. 1567 - prior burnt to the ground and Sir John Thynne starts building Longleat. 1574 - visited by Elizabeth I. 1754 - the 3rd Lord Weymouth hires Capability Brown to landscape and restore the grounds. 1789 - Viscount Weymouth is made Marquis of Bath. 1933 - Duke of York (King George VI) and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (Queen mother) visit. 1949 - became the first stately home open to the public. 1966 - the safari park first opened to the public.