of many Huguenot craftspeople. The Huguenot movement played an important role in his creation of The English Versailles. Montagu was an English ambassador to France, and Boughton House shows strong French architectural influences. His son, John Montagu, 2nd Duke of Montagu, made little alteration to the house, but made sweeping changes to the landscape and gardens after his return from campaign in Europe with his father-in-law, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Following the death of George, 3rd Duke of Montagu, in 1790, the house passed, through the marriage of his daughter, Elizabeth, to Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch, 5th Duke of Queensberry. From the mid-eighteenth century, Boughton House was little used or altered, but was well cared for. Because of this it has some of the best preserved baroque state rooms in the British Isles. According to Robert Edmonds, land steward at Boughton House in 1797, "In the year 1792 Boughton gardens were thrown open to the park and the deer and other stock were admitted. A considerable improvement has been made in them by means of the mud which was taken out of the ponds." In the late twentieth century, Boughton became the dower house of Mary ("Mollie"), Duchess of Buccleuch, widow of the 8th Duke, who brought it back to life. The noted diarist Chips Channon, who was a guest in 1945 wrote: "It is a dream house with a strange, sleepy quality, but its richness, its beauty and possessions are stupefying. Everything belonged to Charles I, or Marie de Medici, or was given by Louis XIV to the Duke of Monmouth... There are 72 miles of drives in the park... The long view from the terrace here is like a Claude Lorrain... But it is the stillness, the curious quiet of Boughton that impresses the most." Following the death of Dowager Duchess Mollie in 1993, the 9th Duke opened Boughton to small tours through arts organisations, and the house is now open to the general public for guided tours for a few weeks each year. Garden In keeping with the French style of its exterior, Boughton House is set amidst a highly impressive formal, yet arcadian garden of strict geometry, designed on the golden ratio. Vast swathes of turf, planes of reflecting water, strong lines of trees and linear earth forms create an intellectually meditative landscape indicative of the Age of Enlightenment and the idea