Floor shift at historic castle to mean new repairs

Cash from the Heritage Lottery Fund was previously used to repair the roof at Wentworth Castle, which is set in a Grade I-listed landscape at Stainborough, near Barnsley.

However, it is understood that the weight of the new roof has caused the floors in the country house, which is now both a popular visitor attraction and the base of Northern College, to move.

As a result, listed building consent is now being sought to repair the floors, and is set to be agreed by Barnsley Council’s planning board at a meeting tomorrow.

Claire Herring, director at Wentworth Castle and Stainborough Park, said the works were vital to improve Wenworth Castle, which was built in stages over several hundred years.

Thomas Wentworth purchased what was then known as Stainborough Hall in 1708.

The following year, he began work on a new baroque wing and his son William, who succeeded him in 1739, later added the south-facing Palladian wing.

In the 19th century, the Vernon-Wentworth family completed the house as it is seen today, with the addition of a west wing.

Ms Herring said: “What will go back into the house will be better than what was there before.

“There will be a full, historic restoration.”

She added: “About a year ago, there was a ceiling collapse, and over the last year fundraising has been going on to try and restore it.”

Nobody from Northern College, which runs various higher education and teaching courses out of Wentworth Castle, was available for comment on the listed building consent application.

Meanwhile, another milestone is set to be marked at Wentworth Castle Gardens in the coming weeks, with the beginning of restoration works on the derelict Victorian glasshouse.

The ambitious £3.7m plans, which are being funded with cash from bodies including the Heritage Lottery Fund, the European Regional Development Fund and English Heritage, will see the ruined conservatory transformed into an elegant wedding venue and visitor attraction, containing a range of plants from around the world.

Contractors have now been appointed and restoration works are set to commence in less than a fortnight.

Ms Herring said: “The work is going to involve the complete dismantling of the conservatory.

“It will be deglazed and the iron structure will be taken away for between eight and 10 months, to be restored. Then it’s going to be reglazed and replanted.

“On the footprint of what used to be the old potting shed, as well, there’s going to be a small new building for a secondary visitors’ centre for further interpretation of the gardens and more detail on the history of the site.

“We’ll be creating a beautiful level terrace to the south of the conservatory for people to sit and enjoy the views. We’ll also have a level site where we can put a marquee for events.”

Within the conservatory, Ms Herring said, there would be a range of plants from around the world, to represent the flora collected by the Wentworth family on their travels.

“They went all over the world and brought some great plants back to this country”, she said.

Restoration of the glasshouse is anticipated to take 12 months to complete, and the project should be finished in July next year.

The conservatory was originally built in 1877 for Frederick William Thomas Vernon-Wentworth.