The revitalisation of The Camellia House has won a Georgian Group Award for the 'Re-use of a Georgian building', recognising a commitment to conserving Georgian buildings and creating new work ‘in the spirit of the Georgian era’ across the UK.
John Goodall, Architectural Editor for Country Life, says “These awards are a means both of celebrating this inheritance but also highlighting the love, care and resources that are expended on (Georgian buildings) to our universal benefit.”
As part of ongoing works to refurbish and reimagine the wider Wentworth Woodhouse estate, The Grade II*-listed Camellia House, has been transformed from a derelict shell on the Historic England ‘Heritage at Risk’ register, to a tea room accessible to all. The £5m project has seen the site upgraded into a tea house and multipurpose venue, whilst providing a climate that will protect the camellias, thought to be amongst the rarest in the Western world. The tea house opened to the public for the first time in April this year.
The project also sought to bolster South Yorkshire’s economy and community, ensuring local people can engage with heritage sites while providing employment opportunities. The Camellia House provided a setting for Historic England’s inaugural summer school, providing live-site training to 19 trainees across various heritage crafts, from stone masons, joiners and bricklayers to roofers, stained glass conservators and millwrights. 22 new local hospitality jobs have been created and of the 39 sub-contractors used, 33 of these were from Yorkshire.
The Camellia House takes a significant step in making Yorkshire’s unique heritage accessible to all, through the provision of a purpose-built Changing Places facility installed in collaboration with Muscular Dystrophy UK, one of the first for a heritage site in the UK.
With funding support from:
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Historic England
Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust
The Garfield Weston Foundation
Historic Houses Foundation
The Swire Charitable Trust
The Ian Addison Charitable Trust
In-kind donations and volunteer time