SAVE Britain’s Heritage has issued an urgent call for matching funds to enable the purchase and preservation of Wentworth Woodhouse, one of the grandest stately homes in Britain.
SAVE writes:
A race is on to raise funds to preserve Wentworth Woodhouse, one of the grandest stately homes in Britain, by placing it in a new charitable trust which will open it to the public. So far £3.4m has been pledged towards an acquisition target of £7m. SAVE Britain’s Heritage which initiated the successful campaign to rescue Dumfries House is now urgently seeking a matching sum to enable the purchase to go ahead.
By agreement with the Newbold family, SAVE and its partners have helped initiate the new Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust (WWPT) to serve the following purposes:
- To preserve the house and grounds on a long term sustainable basis with extensive public opening;
- To find sustainable and sympathetic uses for those parts of the property not open to the public;
- To raise funds both for acquisition and repairs and other essential works.
Wentworth Woodhouse is a marvel of English architecture, one of the largest and most impressive of all 18th century country houses, the seat of a great political dynasty and the home of a Prime Minister. In size and splendour it matches Stowe, with an even more magnificent parade of state apartments and a landscape studded with temples, monuments and follies.
The proposal is that the magnificent Baroque and Palladian mansion, which in many European countries would be called a palace, and the 83 acres which run with it, are placed in a new charitable trust. The purpose of the trust would be to give this great building a secure future with regular access to the public and viable uses for substantial parts of the building to contribute to the costs of repair and maintenance.
In discussion with the Newbold family a target figure of £7 million for acquisition was set. This comprises everything purchased by the Newbold family – buildings, land and protected contents, including statues in the house. As of now, SAVE and the WWPT have raised pledges of £3.4 million and are continuing to raise further funds to achieve acquisition. These pledges come from the Monument Trust, Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement, the J Paul Getty Jr Charitable Trust, and the Art Fund.
The SAVE plan has been drawn up by Marcus Binney, SAVE’s Executive President, with leading country house experts and entrepreneurs, including Mr Kit Martin, well known for his country house rescues and transformations, Roger Tempest who has pioneered the use of estate buildings for office purposes at Broughton Hall in North Yorkshire, Martin Drury former Director-General of the National Trust, and Merlin Waterson former Regional Director of the National Trust. Financial advice has come from Timothy Cooke, who is Co-Chairman of the commemorations of the 200th anniversary of Waterloo
The National Trust has agreed to help the new WWPT by offering to take on responsibility for the public opening of the magnificent interiors of Wentworth Woodhouse as well as its gardens. A detailed business plan commissioned by the National Trust has shown projected income and expenditure for the WWPT over twenty years. This has been prepared by SQW Consultants and their forecasts show the WWPT will come into a surplus in the sixth year of operation.
Detailed figures for the cost of repairs and associated building works have been prepared with the help of architects Purcell Miller Tritton and Ian Rex Proctor and Partners, construction consultants. Detailed surveys of particular problem areas have also been carried out for English Heritage, notably the roof of the east portico and the ceiling of the Marble Saloon. These show that a sum of £42 million needs to be spent on the fabric of the house over the next twelve to fifteen years to meet the backlog of repairs and subsidence damage. While this is a large sum, it is comparable to the sums needed for other houses of this scale such as Stowe or for cathedral restorations.
Wentworth Woodhouse is currently subject to a major claim against the Coal Authority for subsidence damage. The Claim has been lodged by the Newbold family and the new Trust is ready and willing to take over the claim on acquisition, using the Newbold family’s team of specialist advisors and lawyers who have carried out an enormous amount of survey work on the damage.
In addition the WWPT has agreed, subject to contract, to allow Mr and Mrs Clifford Newbold to remain in part of the house for their lifetimes.
For more information please contact Marcus Binney on 07973 802648 or Mike Fox at SAVE on 0207 253 3500/ mike.fox@savebritainsheritage.org or Julie Kenny on 01709 535218.
For SAVE see www.savebritainsheritage.org and news
