Mystery
The Palace Beautiful
Bunyan's pilgrim rested in a palace on a hill. Was it this one?
See it clearly
- What's there
- A roofless Jacobean mansion on a hill
- Legend from
- 1600s
- Tone
- Curious
On the ridge ahead is Houghton House, said to be the Palace Beautiful of The Pilgrim's Progress.
On a ridge above Ampthill stand the roofless walls of Houghton House, built between 1615 and 1621 for Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, sister of the poet Sir Philip Sidney. John Bunyan grew up only a few miles away, and for centuries the house has been called the model for the Palace Beautiful in The Pilgrim's Progress, published in 1678: the house on a hill where Christian is welcomed and rests on his journey. Whether Bunyan ever set foot inside is unknown, but standing on the ridge looking out over the vale, the idea is easy to believe.