Watch the moment Yorkshire's largest country house is lit up in blue for the NHS

Wentworth Woodhouse's East Front - which is longer than that of Buckingham Palace - has been lit up in blue thanks to local firm PA Entertainments, who usually do the sound and lighting for weddings at the volunteer-run stately home near Rotherham.

The NHS logo will also be projected onto the walls of the Palladian mansion at 8pm on Thursday night.

Three members of staff who live on the site will be taking part in the round of applause, supported by staff and volunteers who will be clapping at home.

The Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust's CEO Sarah McLeod has thanked sound and lighting technicians Adam Nicholson and Phil Cooper, who both live nearby, for their help.

“We thought it was wonderful. Everyone is indebted to the dedication of frontline NHS staff dealing with life and death on a daily basis, and other key workers risking their health just to do their jobs,” she said.

“We are a charity facing a huge struggle for survival during the pandemic, but we felt it was really important to demonstrate our support for them.”

Adam and Phil, who also works as a DPD courier, worked through the night on the installation. The images and video will be shared on social media at 8pm every Thursday, but supporters are urged to stay at home and not attempt to visit the house.

Wentworth Woodhouse, which has been owned by a charitable trust since 2017, is now closed to the public and tours, events and wedding bookings have all been cancelled.

The Grade I-listed house is the ancestral home of the Earls of Fitzwilliam, who sold the property and its grounds in the 1980s, although the family still own the wider estate and the village of Wentworth.

Urgent restoration of the Georgian roof is continuing during the lockdown period to prevent further water damage to the rooms below...

Contractors moved onto the site in 2019 to undertake the first repairs to the roof since the 1970s, and the first major overhaul in more than a century.

Staff at Wentworth admit that faith is 'all we have left to run on' during one of the toughest periods in the estate's existence.

The house has survived adversity before - its future has been uncertain at several points in its history, including just after World War Two when its grounds were destroyed by open-cast mining and the male line became extinct. In the 1980s, the Fitzwilliam family put it up for sale and it was saved by a private buyer, who could do little to prevent it falling into decay. Restoration efforts since the trust took over have been supported by public funding grants and it appeared to finally have been saved for the nation.

The 52 staff were furloughed at the end of March and the 212 volunteers have been stood down until further notice.

The roof work has not been halted because doing so would cost an additional £30,000 per month for scaffolding hire, security, insurance and health and safety measures despite nobody being on-site and there being no income stream.

The contractors have now begun placing slates engraved with personal messages from supporters of the project over the East Front portico.

Trust chief executive Sarah McLeod said:-

“Keeping people safe is our absolute priority right now. Wentworth Woodhouse will re-open in style as soon as the COVID-19 crisis is over and we want everyone back in force - all our staff, volunteers and loyal supporters."

The Woodhead Group, who are undertaking the work, have introduced health screening, staggered break times and additional hand washing.