6 November 2015
SAVE statement Wentworth Woodhouse
Over the last four years SAVE and the newly formed Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust (WWPT) have worked to raise £7m, a target purchase figure agreed with the Newbold family, to buy the mansion and 83 acres of grounds, complete with all the statues and protected contents acquired by the Newbold family when they bought the house in 1998.
Having raised the necessary £7m in pledges, half in the form of a £3.5m grant offer from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, SAVE and the WWPT made a formal offer on 26 August 2015. In response to Savills call for best and final offers by Midday Friday 29 October, SAVE reconfirmed the offer with the full support of the grant giving bodies.
The initial SAVE plan was drawn up with leading country house experts and entrepreneurs, including Mr Kit Martin, well known for his country house transformations, Roger Tempest who has pioneered the use of estate buildings for office purposes at Broughton Hall, Martin Drury former Director General of the National Trust, and Merlin Waterson former Regional Director of the National Trust.
The National Trust agreed to help the WWPT by taking on the initial responsibility for the public opening of the magnificent interiors of Wentworth Woodhouse as well as its gardens. A detailed business plan commissioned by the WWPT has shown projected income and expenditure over twenty years. This has been prepared by SQW Consultants and their forecasts show the WWPT would come into a surplus in the sixth year of operation. SAVE and the WWPT's plan would ensure the future of Wentworth Woodhouse is secured, with its sublime interiors opened to the public.
SAVE’s Executive President Marcus Binney says: “Our proposals would have secured this wonderful property for the nation on a long term sustainable basis. SAVE and the new trust have carefully examined all the challenges this property presents, including £42m of structural repairs and a highly complex claim for subsidence damage against the Coal Authority. Our offer is not dependent on survey or planning permission as offers may be."
Chair of the Wentworth Woodhouse Presentation Trust Julie Kenny says: “Wentworth Woodhouse is a property of great national importance and since the seventeenth century its owners have played such an important role in the history of the United Kingdom and South Yorkshire. It is vitally important that Wentworth Woodhouse is saved for the future. Our proposed scheme is a viable plan that is intended to be sustainable in the long term and will play an important part in the regeneration of Rotherham, South Yorkshire and the North, promoting regeneration, tourism and community use.”
SAVE Trustee Sir Simon Jenkins says: “This is far and away the most important historic house currently at risk. It is unthinkable that it should be allowed to fall into serious decay or not be open to visitors on a regular basis.”
Chief Executive of the National Heritage Memorial Fund Carole Souter says: “Wentworth Woodhouse is an incredibly important piece of our national heritage, which is why the trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund have agreed £3.5m funding to help secure its future for the nation.”
Director of the Art Fund Stephen Deuchar says: "Wentworth Woodhouse is quite simply one of England’s most important country houses. The Art Fund very much hopes that the tremendous efforts of SAVE, the National Trust and others will enable its future to be secured so that it can be progressively restored and enjoyed by everyone for many years to come."
Director General of the National Trust Helen Ghosh said: “Wentworth Woodhouse is one of England’s most important historic houses and it is very important its future is secured. To that end, we have worked closely with SAVE and the WWPT over the last four years to put in place a viable plan that would secure Wentworth Woodhouse’s long-term future and give future generations access to this fine house."
SAVE and the trustees of the Wentworth Woodhouse Presentation Trust extend their warmest thanks for pledges totaling £3.5m from the Monument Trust, the Art Fund, Sir Siegmund Warburg’s Voluntary Settlement and the John Paul Getty Jnr Charitable Trust as well as to the trustees of the National Heritage Memorial Fund for an offer of £3.5m towards purchase.
For more information please contact the SAVE office on 0207 253 3500 or [email protected]
