A £1 million restoration project to save from collapse the Victorian Conservatory at Scampston Hall, Ryedale, has begun. William Birch, local building and restoration contractor, has started on site to restore the historic structure to its former glory which is set in the Walled Garden at Scampston, near Malton
The scheme will conserve and protect the 1894 William Richardson & Co. Darlington designed range of Glasshouses as well as the adjacent Gardeners’ Bothies; the glasshouses are a major feature of Scampston Hall’s Walled Garden and a significant example of the work of one of the most important hot house designers of the time.
Paul Goyea, Managing Director of William Birch & Sons said: “we have been working with the client’s project team over the last few months on this interesting and important scheme. We very much look forward to utilising our heritage skills experience and planning to ensure that we are able to preserve as many features of the existing buildings, whilst providing a contemporary and flexible space for a variety of visitors. We have a long history of restoring heritage buildings in North Yorkshire and our project team will enjoy once again working in this sensitive environment
Once restored, the Conservatory and Bothies will be put to use for heritage and education activities for schools and local groups. The new Heritage and Learning Centre will see the conservatory interior divided into a Community Room and Lecture Theatre as well as having the central space filled with plants, whilst the Bothies will have three Exhibition Rooms and an Education Room. A part time Heritage and Learning Officer, Paul Mosley, has been appointed to develop links with volunteers and widen the use and appeal of the conservatory to visitors of all ages.
Caroline Legard, Project Leader for Scampston Conservatory Preservation Company said: “We have been anxious about the stability of this building for several years and it is only with the very generous help of the Heritage Lottery Fund and other grant giving bodies that we shall be able to set up the Centre; this opportunity will bring the whole building back to life with a new focus. Our vision is not only to restore this wonderful building, but to enable a wide range of people of all ages to become involved not just with gardening, but with the wider estate at Scampston”
Fiona Spiers, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund in Yorkshire and the Humber, said:
“The Heritage Lottery Fund is delighted to have been able to enable the Scampston Conservatory Preservation Company Ltd to renovate the Victorian Conservatory and bring it back into use. The Conservatory and bothies will be a base for educational and heritage activities, so encouraging more people to learn about the relationship between the house and those who looked after the garden, and other aspects of horticultural heritage and skills.”
The Scampston Conservatory Preservation Company (SCPCo) has appointed experienced contractor William Birch and Sons for the development which is scheduled for completion in late summer and is only being made possible by the award of £1m from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Additional funding has come from the Country Houses Foundation the Finnis Scott Trust, RDPE LEADER Coast, Wolds, Wetlands and Waterways, which is being financed by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and Defra as part of the Rural Development Programme for England. Caroe Architecture Ltd (CAL) from Cambridge has completed the design work.
Pictured:
Left to right – Lee Scaife, Contracts Manager at William Birch & Sons Ltd, Sir Charles Legard Director of Scampston Conservatory Preservation Company and Jack Klinck, Architectural Assistant at Caroe Architecture Ltd.
Latest Conservatory project blog update available at: www.scampston-conservatory.blogspot.co.uk
