Case Study: Wentworth Woodhouse, Rotherham, South Yorkshire
As a large estate with a variety of historic assets and at the cusp of a major regeneration plan, Wentworth Woodhouse provided an amazing site for heritage skills learning in 2022. The trainees worked primarily on two buildings, including the Grade II* Camellia House, which went from a dilapidated Georgian glass house to an award-winning restored tea house.
Site description and context
Wentworth Woodhouse is a 17th and 18th-century country mansion set within 80 acres of gardens. The site comprises 22 listed buildings and structures within the ground, of which three are listed at Grade I. The principal rooms retain decorative schemes of magnificent quality, executed by the finest craftsmen.
The site was partly used as a college of further education in the late 20th century until it was sold in 1989. In 2014, the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust was established to secure its future.
By the time the site was considered to host the Summer School, Historic England was already supporting the Trust, which had produced a Masterplan (2018) with the view to turning the site into a mixed-use visitor destination.
In 2022, the Trust submitted a grant application for works that would enable support for the training activities during the Summer School. The focus of the repair works to be undertaken by the trainees was the Ionic Temple. The Camellia House was included to allow trainees to observe different types of works and for off-the-job test pieces. The South Pavilion and Clifford’s Lodge provided survey work opportunities.
Training activities delivered in 2022
One-week Spring School
The one-week school enabled the trainees to get familiarised with the site. They met representatives of the Trust and discussed the site’s significance with Historic England’s architect and Donald Insall’s conservation architect.
They looked at the Masterplan and various ongoing repairs and participated in survey work. They visited a forge and plastering workshop and took part in a few practical workshops, including gilding and leadwork.
Five-week Summer School
The longer Summer School enabled the trainees to significantly improve the condition of the Ionic Temple. Under the expertise of Sean Knight from Heritage Masonry Contracts Ltd, the trainees carried out stone cleaning, repointing, and resetting of stones. The Camellia House gave them the opportunity to understand what was involved in repairing timber windows.
In addition to the works on these two structures, 19 trainees on the HBS programme and two from the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust took part in various workshops. These sessions enabled the trainees from multi-disciplinary backgrounds to learn about different materials outside of the craft they are usually engaged with, including plastering with Gaches Plastering, joinery with Simon Dunn, earth masonry with Alex Gibbons, and brickwork with Emma Simpson.
Other activities delivered included: classroom learning on topics such as assessing significance and running a business, a Level 3 award course on the 'Repair and Maintenance of pre-1919 Buildings', and a visit to a Cathedral’s Workshop.
It's a big mixing pot of different ideas and different crafts, and it's a wide range of people from different backgrounds with a wide range of skills who've all come together to share that - it's great.
Incorporate the training into the construction programme
The Trust benefited from several grants to support the capital works that provided an opportunity for trainees from the Heritage Building Skills programme to collaborate on a live site. Historic England managed a separate budget to cover the trainees’ accommodation, travel, subsistence, and the costs of delivering various workshops and site visits to other locations.
The main contractor was responsible for the trainees while they were on their site, and the dates and number of trainees were provided in advance.
On this occasion, William Birch, the main contractor for the Camellia House works, had already been appointed. The contract was extended to include the Ionic Temple, identified as a discreet project that would offer an excellent training opportunity.
The programme allowed for the possibility that the training element might mean some works would take a little longer, such as dismantling the windows at the Camellia House.
What have we learned?
- Working with a team interested in delivering training is crucial. In this case, the commitment and expertise of the subcontractor involved in the repairs at the Ionic Temple were essential for providing a valuable learning experience for the trainees.
- Wentworth Woodhouse had great facilities to support the Summer School. In addition to an amazing group of historic assets to draw learning from, the estate also has a woodworking workshop and state rooms that could be used for lectures.
- Working on a small ‘discreet project’ like the Ionic Temple is easier as there was no risk of programme delay. It also gives the trainees more ownership of the project.
Also of interest
