Our Work at Powis Recreating the Magic of Seaton Delaval Hall
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Views across the Rose Garden View of the south front at at Seaton Delaval Hall, Northumberland Powis Castle and Garden, Wales Our work at Powis A fundraising campaign was started this year to help to restore the once-grand east entrance at Powis Castle, in Powys Wales. This was the entrance that historic figures like King George V and Queen Mary would have walked through. It’s been closed to the public since 1952. Damp is slowly spreading through the stonework and high terrace, while the majestic steps are slowly crumbling away. But thanks to generous donations, we’re ready to put it right. In Trust We’ve secured all the statutory permissions we need, and structural News of how you are helping to take engineers have finished their vital tests and preparations. The next care of the nation’s special places step is confirming exactly when we can start the heavy building work. When it’s all done, we can re-open this grand gateway to the nation Winter 2015 for the first time in 50 years. Recreating the magic of Seaton Delaval Hall To find out more please contact Amanda Pearson at [email protected] After six years of vital conservation and restoration the hall for the colourful Delaval family, notorious work at Seaton Delaval Hall, we can now focus on Georgian partygoers and pranksters who staged recreating its fun and flamboyant past. everything from masquerade balls to theatrical productions. Seaton Delaval Hall is a major part of the north east’s heritage, so acquiring it for the nation in 2009 was Since acquiring this historic hall, however, we’ve a great achievement. It was made possible by the needed to do a wide range of urgent conservation fundraising effort in the local community and great work. The biggest projects included repairing the Welcome generosity from our donors. The community East Wing roof, conserving the white marble and Welcome to your winter In Trust newsletter, featuring updates on has since been heavily involved in running a black limestone chequered floor in the main hall, and what your generous support has helped us to achieve this year. busy programme of activities and shaping the overhauling the sewage and drainage system. future of one of the country’s finest examples of A big highlight has been celebrating 50 years of the Neptune Carrying out this conservation work, and continuing baroque architecture. Coastline Campaign. With your support, we have now raised our research, has revealed Seaton Delaval is even over £69.8million to protect 775 miles of coastline for the nation. An early goal was opening Seaton Delaval to the more historically significant than we first thought. public, and since we opened the doors five years ago, One great example is the inspired relationship We have come to the end of the research project that we more than 320,000 people have visited to explore between the landscape and the buildings. Vanbrugh have been carrying out to understand how you, our generous this distinctive property. designed the property so, when viewed from the Steps leading up to the supporters and donors, wish to engage with the National Trust. landscaped grounds, the house actually appears east front of Powis Castle Thank you again to everyone who took part. One of the key The hall and landscaped gardens were built in the to float. findings has been the vital importance of property visits and 1700s by Sir John Vanbrugh, the architect behind access to expert staff and volunteers. Thanks to your feedback Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard. He designed With this vital work finished, we’re now raising funds If you require this information in alternative we have more than doubled the number of opportunities for you for further conservation work, such as re-roofing the to experience National Trust places through our visits, tours and West Wing, repairs to the partially collapsed stable formats, please call 01793 817566 or lectures. Your support is very important to us and the research floor and the restoration of the gardens. [email protected] findings will help us to ensure that your involvement with our work continues to be as rewarding for you as possible. © National Trust 2015. The National Trust is a registered As we approach the festive season, I’d like to thank charity no. 205846 you again for doing so much to help us safeguard To find out more about the planned work at Photos © National Trust Image/Barry Batchelor/Mike our special places for ever and for everyone. Seaton Delaval Hall please contact Aerian Rogers Calnan/Dennis Gilbert/Clare Green/John Hammond/Sam on 01912 558638 or email Humphreys/Chris Lacey/ David Levenson/John Millar/ With very best wishes, A long view of the ‘floating hall’, built for Robert Morris [email protected] Susan Foster, Admiral George Delaval by Sir John Vanbrugh All efforts have been made to trace individual copyright holders and if someone should believe they own the copyright they should contact the National Trust. MS079 Director of Fundraising Looking north across Derwentwater, Cumbria The West front of Knole, Kent An update from Director-General An incredible year in late afternoon sunshine Dame Helen Ghosh at Dyrham Park 2015 has been a landmark year at Dyrham Park in Earlier this year I was talking at a BBC Radio 3 event, about the history South Gloucestershire as we embarked on a major of the National Trust and the changing focus of our work over the conservation project to safeguard the future of this 120 years of our existence. Our three founders – Octavia Hill, Robert special place. Hunter and Hardwick Rawnsley – had their roots in the movement to protect landscapes and green spaces and to open up access to The first phase of the project was to make the leaking ‘ordinary’ people. The fact that, from the mid-twentieth century, we roof watertight for at least the next 150 years. found ourselves the custodian of more and more wonderful country Rather than close the house to the public whilst the houses, was not something they would ever have predicted. As so work took place, we were keen to ensure that visitors often with the Trust, we were responding to the particular needs of had access to and could see the conservation work in the time, as later we did in our Enterprise Neptune campaign whose action. An inventive rooftop walkway was opened from Former Assistant Director for the South West fiftieth anniversary we have been celebrating this year, and in the work Helen Bonser-Wilton takes Dame Helen Ghosh May. Travelling through scaffolding above the roof, the on the impressive rooftop tour Conservation studio takes shape at Knole we have been doing in the last few years to help children reconnect walkway gives visitors an aerial view of the work taking with nature. place. Sadly the walkway will close from December as the As we move into phase two of the conservation work and creating firm over the summer meant work scaffolding will be taken down. Our history has left us with an extraordinary legacy of landscape, the ambitious ‘Inspired by Knole’ opportunities for training within the on the studio had to be briefly put buildings, collections and gardens to look after, which we can only This is the first time the National Trust has offered such project, there’s now a focus on the studio. A problem with a contracting on hold, but the project team have do with the support of generous donors like you. In this past year, an accessible rooftop experience, with everyone from conservation studio, showrooms resolved the situation and work is we have had an enormously positive response to our appeals for toddlers to wheelchair users able to take the lift up to and collections. now underway again. Stowe and Quarry Bank, as well as to a number of smaller appeals. As the walkway and enjoy this unique perspective on a Our five-year Inspired‘ by Knole’ Meanwhile, we’re preparing the inside always, we will be looking to boost those funds with a healthy surplus conservation project . from our visitor and commercial activities. As I said to the Radio 3 conservation project is now well of the house for work, dismantling audience, it is the serendipitous acquisition of all our houses, gardens The work on the roof will safeguard the rare and underway, as we successfully the Spangled Bed (one of the most and ‘pay for entry’ attractions that gives us this financial opportunity. significant collection within the mansion house which complete phase one – conserving significant pieces in Knole’s furniture Despite the rather disappointing weather, we have had one of our recently welcomed back a rare Cornelis de Heem the roof, windows and walls. Now we collection), and taking down the most successful ever years, with a record number of visitors and strong painting dating from the mid-1680s. The painting, which can focus on phase two – converting cartoons which line the Cartoon growth in the recruitment of new members. was sold from Dyrham Park’s collection in 1956, is one the old tithe barn into a conservation Gallery walls. A team of volunteers of the best works by de Heem - an artist associated with studio, where visitors will be able have now finished helping to empty At the same time, we have been laying the foundations for the strategy both Flemish Baroque and Dutch Golden Age painting. to watch experts at work. We’re and catalogue the contents of that we set out in March this year, ‘Playing Our Part’.