Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire to receive lifeline grant

Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire is set to receive a lifeline grant towards essential restoration from the Historic Houses Foundation.

The Historic Houses Foundation is a major beneficiary of the Heritage Stimulus Fund, recently announced by the UK Government and Historic England, which will provide invaluable support for restoration work on some of England’s most important and vulnerable historic buildings.

The foundation will now be able to set in place a programme of urgent work that would not otherwise have been possible.  Over the past 17 years the Foundation has distributed over £11 million in grant aid to nearly 250 vital restoration projects in England and Wales.  

Eastnor Castle is a popular visitor attraction and wedding venue at the foot of the Malvern Hills. In 2010, owner James Hervey-Bathurst discovered that the decorative ceilings in the Long Library and Dining Room were becoming degraded, and work was first done to secure the structure. These rooms were given a makeover in Italian Renaissance style in the 1860s, and specialist restoration of the painted panels that make up the ceilings is now urgent. The grant will also cover repairs to the cast iron bridge that allows visitors to walk around the lake for the best view of the castle, probably the work of British Museum architect Robert Smirke, who built the castle for 1^st Earl Somers in 1812.

Work will begin immediately and continue over the winter months before the start of the new tourist season in Spring 2021.

James Hervey-Bathurst says: “Eastnor attracts over 50,000 visitors a year, and the richly-decorated Long Library and Dining Room are very important parts of the visitor experience, as is the path round the lake which crosses the stilling pool below the lake weir by the original cast-iron bridge. We had deferred all this work, with the risk of further deterioration taking place,  until the offer of the grant came through, so I am delighted the work can now go ahead and am very grateful to the Government and Historic England for channelling this support through the Historic Houses Foundation to secure our heritage at this difficult time.”