image: CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Buckinghamshire Council has ordered the owner of one of the nation’s most important stately homes to carry out urgent repairs to its deteriorating roof, reports the Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust.
Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust writes:
Mentmore Towers is a grade I-listed former residence of the Rothschilds and a British prime minister, and the only surviving major work in this country by Crystal Palace designer Joseph Paxton.
Declared by architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock to be one of the finest early Victorian houses and ‘an exceptional example of the Jacobethan Revival at its best’, it features exquisite and lofty interiors, from the entrance hall paved with marble to the 12m-high grand hall. Situated at the heart of the Vale of Aylesbury, it was the first of the Rothschild properties to be built in Buckinghamshire.
Despite its rich history and architectural significance, it has been identified on Historic England’s at risk register as being at immediate risk of ‘rapid deterioration or loss of fabric’. It has been under the ownership of Mentmore Towers Ltd since 1999.
Although there was a spark of hope in 2016 when plans which included the repair of Mentmore’s roof were approved, these works were never completed, and the owner has allowed the building to continue to deteriorate.
This grand building would lend itself to many potential uses, such as a hotel, visitor attraction or wedding venue that could, just like Wentworth Woodhouse, be a fantastic social and economic asset for its community.
The listed building repairs notice, served by Buckinghamshire Council and published last week, is aimed at addressing urgent issues with water ingress and failing masonry.
Henrietta Billings, director of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, says: ‘We welcome this action taken by Buckinghamshire Council requiring the current owner to carry out urgent and overdue repairs to this great house. We urge the owners, who have owned the building for over 25 years, to step up and undertake immediate repairs. This exceptional landmark has been neglected for too long.’
Constructed in the Jacobethan style, the building was influenced by Robert Smythson’s Wollaton Hall.
The repairs notice was served by Buckinghamshire Council on 4th August. Under the notice, the owner has two months to provide evidence to the council that the repair works are being progressed. Failure to do so would allow the council to consider compulsorily acquiring the building.
The notice is a welcome and much-needed step to protect this exceptional house, which was built in 1852-54 by Sir Joseph Paxton and GH Stokes for Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild.
History
The house was inherited by Mayer Amschel’s daughter Hannah Rothschild, later Countess of Rosebery through her marriage to the 5th Earl of Rosebery, a Victorian prime minister. The two continued to grow and augment the splendid collection Mayer Amschel had established in the house.
Described in SAVE’s 1970s publication, Mentmore for the Nation, as a ‘mystery house’ at the time largely unknown to the public, it suffered a devastating loss when plans for the Government to acquire the building and run it as an outpost of the V&A fell apart in 1977. The house’s outstanding collection of art and furnishings, which included artworks by Gainsborough, Reynolds and Turner, was dispersed and sold at public auction shortly after.
In 1978, the estate became the Maharishi Foundation’s headquarters, before it was sold to the current owners.
Subsequently, the building has starred in many famous films and productions, appearing in the Mummy Returns (2001), Johnny English (2003), Batman Begins (2005) as Wayne Manor and in the Spice Girls’ 1998 music video ‘Goodbye’…
See the repairs notice
