Keeping ancient camellias safe in derelict ruins at Wentworth Woodhouse as £5m works for new global tea house begins

This building, once a symbol of the stately home's wealth, was where the Lady Rockingham would take tea - back when it was the fashionable new drink of the day.

Long having fallen into disrepair, the blooms' house is now to become a global tea house, breaking down barriers across cultures and divides.

After all, say trustees, may be the "greatest leveller" of all.

Sarah McLeod is chief executive of the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust’s trust, which bought the once-magnificent home for repair five years ago.

"Wentworth Woodhouse stands as a huge monumental bastion to aristocratic wealth," she said. "Our priority, as a trust, is to make it accessible to all.

"By introducing people to it through the gardens, through the Camellia House, we can ensure that everybody - and particularly people on our doorstep - know that it is for them."

The stately house near Rotherham, a palace in all but name, was once home to the Marquesses of Rockingham and the Earls Fitzwilliam.

The oldest parts of the Grade ll listed Camellia House date back to 1738 and were a tea house where the 1st Marquess' wife, Lady Rockingham, would entertain guests.

Camellias

In time it would go on to house highly prized camellias from the Far East. Those tender stems, forgotten over centuries, are the ones that have proved so ruinous in recent years.

Now work begins, with scaffolding to be laid and as contractors arrive. Priority is protecting the camellias, having survived since the 1800s and among the oldest in the Western world.

Work begins August 15 for the year-long transformation, with contractors William Birch & Sons Ltd and architects Donald Insall Associates.

Scaffolding will be wrapped in fine netting, letting in daylight but protecting the camellias in their historic troughs from dust and debris, while lime plaster dust must not enter the soil.

Head gardener Scott Jamieson has been charged with their care and daily checks, ensuring they're fed.

Refurbishment

The building’s extensive refurbishment will see work to roof timbers, stonework, windows and doors, walls and ceilings, with a new roof, bathrooms and a kitchen, creating 22 jobs.

Funding, including £4m from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, includes grants from Historic England and The Hamish Ogston Foundation.

Now a roofless shell, on the at risk register, the hope is for the Camellia House to become a global tea house, embracing tea-drinking ceremonies from around the world.

One day a week it will be a community cafe for local groups to meet and explore local tea traditions.

The trust's priorities are around widening access, said Ms McLeod, with ambitions to reach out to communities to take in traditions and samples of global teas.

"Tea is such a great leveller," she said. "Everybody drinks tea. Whether it’s a sweet, milky, pink drink, or green tea, black tea, yellow tea, you just sit down and talk."

Levelling up

It's so important, she said, for people to share Wentworth Woodhouse' opportunities and successes, with the restoration a "game changer" for South Yorkshire.

"The Camellia House to us is not a cafe in the garden, it is a hub of conversation," she said. "We want to change people's cultural perceptions.

"We have been talking about levelling up for ages. This will absolutely help.

"There are some really exciting things happening in this part of the world. And it's about time South Yorkshire had its day to shine."

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