Restoration work at Wentworth estate picks up another award

Wentworth Castle Gardens recently received a commendation in the UK Landscape Awards, but managers yesterday said the latest prize topped that achievement.

Awarded by Country Life magazine, the Restoration Project of the Century aims to celebrate the variety and importance of recently-undertaken restoration work to England's historic buildings.

Regional prizes were awarded and Wentworth won the category for the north of England.

Vicky Martin, who is heritage director at Wentworth Castle Trust, which runs the estate, said: "The recent flurry of awards achieved by Wentworth Castle Gardens is testament to the hard work, dedication and vision of the trust."

She said Wentworth Castle Gardens was now being recognised both nationally and internationally as an inspiring and picturesque landscape.

The attraction, near Barnsley, is made up of more than 50 acres of gardens and 500 acres of parkland. The estate features 26 buildings, monuments and follies, including the main house, all of which have been, and in some cases still are, the focus of a massive restoration project.

Over 17m to date has been spent on the restoration at Wentworth Castle Gardens and one of the results has been the rediscovery of rare formal gardens and national collections of rhododendrons, camellias and magnolias.

Among the restoration projects are Home Farm, the Sun Monument, the Rotunda, the Ha Ha, and the roof of Wentworth Castle.