Within a house of power and pomp, sits a chamber of exquisite elegance waiting to be restored.
Building conservation charity the Landmark Trust has launched a fundraising appeal to support the restoration of the South Tower at Wentworth Woodhouse – a secluded eyrie and a rare survival of 18th century feminine taste within the monumental South Yorkshire mansion.
They hope to restore the South Tower to its 18th century heyday and create a self-catering apartment for anyone to stay in.
Wentworth Woodhouse is the creation of the 1st and 2nd Marquesses of Rockingham. Its vast Palladian-style East Front is longer even than Buckingham Palace, encasing stunningly opulent interiors. The South Tower, with its glorious parlour, was chosen by the 2nd Marchioness of Rockingham to be her personal retreat. The parlour itself is a single room in the upper part of the tower, which the Marchioness, Mary Watson-Wentworth, probably used mostly in summer. Under her direction in the mid-1770s the architect John Carr of York completed its interior, with its marble chimney piece, oval plaster reliefs of antique subjects and beautiful decorative ceiling. A contemporary inventory indicates that it was used both for business and entertaining. At her sycamore writing table the Marchioness wrote copious letters, including many to her husband, in whose political career and Whig ministry she played an important role.
Following years of decay, the derelict mansion was bought in 2017 by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust (WWPT), who have embarked on the herculean task of restoring the place back to its former glory in a multi-phase project. The Landmark Trust are now working with WWPT to save the South Tower, which sits at the most southerly tip of the building’s vast frontage. The tower’s fine upper chamber offers outstanding vistas of house and grounds and is reached via its own private footbridge. WWPT carried out urgent external repairs to the South Tower in 2022. Yet inside this quiet hideaway, the once opulent plasterwork is crumbling, an exquisitely decorated ceiling has been lost and an elegant staircase is undermined by dry rot.
The Landmark Trust are now poised to act – to take on a long lease from the WWPT and develop a holiday let for two. The parlour would become the drawing and dining room, and a bedroom, kitchen and bathroom would be created in the adjacent rooms. The approach would be, as it was from the first, via a handsome private footbridge from the elevated rear terrace.
Within the parlour, traditional 18th-century techniques would be used to re-create the Marchioness’s lost ceiling, guided by historic photographs, and drawing on the inventory to furnish her elegant chamber to evoke its character in its prime. Without Landmark’s intervention, the South Tower will linger in dangerous deterioration at the furthest reach of the building, as this elegant room succumbs to damp and decay. This upper chamber is a rare and exciting survival of undiluted female taste in the 18th century.
Dr Anna Keay OBE, Director of the Landmark Trust, said: “There really is nowhere that compares to Wentworth Woodhouse. This monumental Palladian palace in South Yorkshire is a miraculous survival. When I first saw this fascinating room a few years ago, I was struck by its combination of grandeur and intimacy, the glorious views south and west from its soaring sash windows, and by the perilous condition in which it stood. Two things were immediately clear: it needed urgent action to arrest its decay and – if we could just raise the necessary funds – it would make the most spell-binding place to stay.
“The Landmark Trust is thrilled that funding made available to the project thanks to the H B Allen Charitable Trust and generous donations from early project Guardians means that over 70% of the necessary funds have already been secured, leaving £303,000 still to find. If the final sum can be raised over the coming months, it could be possible to start work on site this summer and have the South Tower ready for booking in 2027.
To donate to the appeal or to find out more, visit http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/south-tower/.