Stories from the
Historic Houses Foundation
Beware Falling Chimneys
Tudor buildings are famous for the height and intricacy of their chimneys. West Horsley Place is a house that combines Tudor sections with a medieval hall at its core, dating to around 1425, and additions through to the mid-nineteenth century.
Welcome to Anglesey
Stand alone monuments are often in poor state of repair. Often, the Historic Houses Foundation is one of the only sources of funds.
One of the most significant restoration projects of the era: Stowe House
The Historic Houses Foundation is not afraid to get involved in some of the most significant restoration projects of the era, as its grant aid to the Stowe House Preservation Trust demonstrates.
Brightling Museum: pyramid to Heaven
A recent triumph for the Historic Houses Foundation is the unveiling of the restored Brightling Mausoleum, a familiar village landmark for Sussex residents.
Wentworth Woodhouse
The rescue of the great house at Wentworth Woodhouse in Yorkshire is perhaps the most ambitious restoration project undertaken this century.
Gwydir Castle: quick thinking in a crisis
When the cellars and surrounding gardens of Gwydir Castle in North Wales were inundated by floods, the Historic Houses Foundation’s speedy intervention showed how important emergency funding can be.
From small seeds…
Sometimes it takes years for the intervention of the Historic Houses Foundation to bear fruit. A major restoration project underway at Gwrych Castle in Wales traces its inception to a small HHF grant.
Skills for Young People: The Prince’s Foundation
His Majesty King Charles, as Prince of Wales, was an active proponent for the retention of traditional building and craft skills. The Historic Houses Foundation has been proud to join in his drive to improve opportunities for young people to develop traditional skills and maintain heritage attractions through The Prince’s Foundation.
Hasfield Court: where Elgar played
The Music Room, Billiard Room and Conservatory added to 17th century Hasfield Court in Gloucestershire in 1885 provided the Victorian Baker family with all the fashionable rooms required for cultured living. Repairs to the lantern roof of the conservatory, with a grant from the Historic Houses Foundation, will stop water ingress damaging the interior.
Royal Patronage
The Prince of Wales has agreed to become the Patron of the Historic Houses Foundation. His Royal Highness has long been a champion of historic buildings and heritage-led regeneration, together with the retention of essential Building Craft skills.
Working with the Landmark Trust
The Historic Houses Foundation works regularly with many heritage partners. We have one recurring and notably successful partnership with the Landmark Trust with whom we have been working since 2006.
Vital restoration funding
The Historic Houses Foundation is proud to once again be a delivery partner for the second round of the Heritage Stimulus Fund. Part of the Government’s £2 billion Cultural Recovery Fund, the Heritage Stimulus Fund is helping heritage places recover from the impact of the pandemic, by funding vital restoration projects.
From loss to re-birth
Five years after buying back their Tudor family seat of Pitchford Hall in Shropshire, Rowena and James Nason are starting to see it emerge from ruinous dereliction.
Hedingham Castle: putting the funding to work
The Historic Houses Foundation gave 18 grants to historic buildings in the Autumn under Historic England’s Heritage Stimulus Fund. What was it like to receive one? Jason and Demetra Lindsay let us know.
Cragend: a historic farm silo
The Historic Houses Foundation’s grant to Cragend Farm in Northumberland has enriched the local history of the area and revealed new details of the entrepreneurial spirit of one of the great industrialists of the North, William Lord Armstrong.
Winter 2020 update
For the first time, the Historic Houses Foundation has received direct funding from Government as part of Historic England’s Heritage Stimulus Fund. A £3 million stimulus granted to the Historic Houses Foundation will allow us to support 18 individual projects in England from Devon to Northumberland.
On a trip to London
Funding for repairs to the frame of one of Britain’s most evocative pieces of late 19th century art will allow its loan from Kelmscott House in Gloucestershire through the summer of 2020.
Belsay Hall: putting lead on the roof
The Historic Houses Foundation often works alongside larger national charities in making a major restoration project happen. This was the case when, in 2020, English Heritage turned its attention to urgent work required to secure Belsay Hall in Northumberland.
Stonor Park: re-roofing a secret chapel
Roof repairs at Stonor Park, Oxfordshire will secure both part of the West Wing and the attic quarters used as a secret base by St Edmund Campion in 1581 for his Catholic mission into Elizabethan England. The work will be supported by the Historic Houses Foundation.
Combermere Abbey - revealing an earlier house
Combermere Abbey in Shropshire received two grants from The Historic Houses Foundation (then Heritage Conservation Trust), between 2011 and 2015, for the cleaning and restoration of important paintings. The 2015 grant was for the Bird’s Eye View of the Abbey in 1730 by the Dutch artist Peter Tillemans.