Hedingham Castle in Essex 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 Historic Houses 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.
The Historic Houses Foundation is one of the leading funders of architectural conservation and one of the only bodies able to support buildings in private ownership. The nationally recognised expertise of its eight volunteer Trustees makes it ideally suited to identifying those projects most in need of support and after careful consideration, 18 nationally important properties across England were selected to benefit from these funds – of which Hedingham Castle is one.
Possibly the most perfectly preserved Norman keep in the country stands next to a later Queen Anne house in Essex and is home to Jason and Demetra Lindsay, descendants of the Norman baron who built it. Restoring the main door of the keep and windows of both the keep and house, along with the stonework surrounding them, will allow the castle to resume its modern life as a unique wedding and events venue and open safely for educational visits.
Work will begin immediately and continue over the winter months before the start of the new tourist season in Spring 2021 and is expected to provide welcome employment to a wide range of traditional craftsmen and building professionals in addition to other local employment opportunities.
Owner, Demetra Lindsay says “We are so grateful for the Historic Houses Foundation’s grant to help us with the urgent maintenance and restoration of the windows and door to Hedingham Castle. It was essential that this work was carried out this year but we were unable to continue the repair programme as business stopped due to the pandemic. To add insult to injury the beautiful old door of the keep was vandalized in the summer and this now can be replaced. This grant is a timely lifeline to maintain the fabric of this magnificent and treasured complex. The Historic Houses Foundation not only supports the necessity to maintain historic buildings but also realizes that frequently the annual maintenance bill far surpasses a year’s business profit due to the ancient nature of the structures. It thus ensures essential repairs are made as a stitch in time, preserving our country’s astonishingly rich heritage.”
Norman Hudson OBE, Chairman of the Historic Houses Foundation says “Our grants go to historic buildings in all categories of ownership, so range far wider than the National Trust. That we have been selected as a Delivery Partner for this money indicates that the Government likes what we do and recognises the exceptionally cost efficient way in which we achieve it. It is good news for historic buildings and good news for jobs and the local community”
