Wentworth Woodhouse
Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house in the village of Wentworth, in South Yorkshire, England. The building has more than 300 rooms, covers an area of more than 2.5 acres (1.0 ha), and is surrounded by a 180-acre (73 ha) park and an estate of 15,000 acres (6,100 ha). The east front pictured here, at 618 feet (188 m) in length, has the longest façade of any country house in the UK.
The original Jacobean house was rebuilt by Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham (1693–1750), and vastly expanded by his son, the 2nd Marquess, who was twice Prime Minister, and who established Wentworth Woodhouse as a Whig centre of influence. In the 18th century, the house was inherited by the Earls Fitzwilliam and the family of the last earl owned it until 1989.
In July 1912, King George V and Queen Mary visited South Yorkshire and stayed at Wentworth Woodhouse for four days. The royal visit concluded on the evening of 11 July with a crowd of 25,000 gathered on the lawn to witness the King and Queen on the balcony of the portico, from which the King gave a speech.
Today, this magnificent house, its beautiful grounds and great stable complex are in a critical state of decay. Wentworth Woodhouse was in the heart of the Yorkshire coal field and in 1947 the government decreed that coal should be mined to within a hundred yards of the house in great open pits. From that moment, the long process of decline set in. Over the following decades the house was leased to the Local Authority, occupied as a college and saw most of its contents dispersed. In 1989 it was sold, and since then successive owners have been unable to keep pace with its restoration and maintenance.
In 2014 the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust was established with the overarching purpose of securing the future of the house for the benefit of the nation. A government grant of £7.6 million allowed Trustees to proceed with the purchase of the building in 2017 and begin the long process of protection, preservation and restoration which will continue for many years.
For more info: wentworthwoodhouse.org.uk/
Wentworth Woodhouse
Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house in the village of Wentworth, in South Yorkshire, England. The building has more than 300 rooms, covers an area of more than 2.5 acres (1.0 ha), and is surrounded by a 180-acre (73 ha) park and an estate of 15,000 acres (6,100 ha). The east front pictured here, at 618 feet (188 m) in length, has the longest façade of any country house in the UK.
The original Jacobean house was rebuilt by Thomas Watson-Wentworth, 1st Marquess of Rockingham (1693–1750), and vastly expanded by his son, the 2nd Marquess, who was twice Prime Minister, and who established Wentworth Woodhouse as a Whig centre of influence. In the 18th century, the house was inherited by the Earls Fitzwilliam and the family of the last earl owned it until 1989.
In July 1912, King George V and Queen Mary visited South Yorkshire and stayed at Wentworth Woodhouse for four days. The royal visit concluded on the evening of 11 July with a crowd of 25,000 gathered on the lawn to witness the King and Queen on the balcony of the portico, from which the King gave a speech.
Today, this magnificent house, its beautiful grounds and great stable complex are in a critical state of decay. Wentworth Woodhouse was in the heart of the Yorkshire coal field and in 1947 the government decreed that coal should be mined to within a hundred yards of the house in great open pits. From that moment, the long process of decline set in. Over the following decades the house was leased to the Local Authority, occupied as a college and saw most of its contents dispersed. In 1989 it was sold, and since then successive owners have been unable to keep pace with its restoration and maintenance.
In 2014 the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust was established with the overarching purpose of securing the future of the house for the benefit of the nation. A government grant of £7.6 million allowed Trustees to proceed with the purchase of the building in 2017 and begin the long process of protection, preservation and restoration which will continue for many years.
For more info: wentworthwoodhouse.org.uk/