Ampthill: Houghton House 
Description
A large mansion house on a promontory high above the otherwise flat lands of this part of Bedfordshire. The house was built between 1615 and 1621 and is believed to be the inspiration for the House Beautiful in John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. The house was abandoned in 1794 and it's owner then stripped it of anything of value leaving it as a shell without a roof. Today it's a picturesque ruin.
Charge
Free
Getting There
From the centre of Bedford the Stagecoach number 2 runs every hour Monday to Saturday and the Grant Palmer numbers 42 and 68 alternate to provide two buses and hour Monday to Saturday to Ampthill. 2 and 42 take about 30 minutes the 68 takes about 40 minutes to make the journey. From the centre of Ampthill its about a one mile walk, relatively well signposted, up to the house.Latitude: 52.043969; Longitude: -0.486131
What3Words: catching.generally.thunder
