From derelict stables to visitor destination

The Grade I-listed Stables and Riding School were designed by John Carr and were the largest and most expensive in England when they were built in 1782. The building took 16 years to complete and housed 84 hunting, riding and carriage horses. From the 1940s to the 1970s, parts of the complex were turned into classrooms and sports facilities for students at the Lady Mabel College of Physical Education, which opened in 1950. But when the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust (WWPT) took over the site in 2017, the stables were in a poor state of repair.

As part of our ongoing work to reimagines the Wentworth Woodhouse estate as a quality visitor destination in South Yorkshire, we have led the £17m redevelopment of the Grade I-listed John Carr Stables and Riding School into a national events venue, banqueting kitchen, cafe, shop, multipurpose events spaces, overnight accommodation and offices. Funded by £4.6m of Rotherham's Levelling Up money from government and £500,000 from Historic England, the regeneration will help draw visitors to the region, boosting the tourist economy and supporting the WWPT, a register charity.