Wentworth Woodhouse, Camellia House

Overview

The Grade II* listed Camellia House at Wentworth Woodhouse was originally built as a Tea House and served as a peaceful retreat for its aristocratic owners from 1738. It later became home to some of Britain’s first camellias to arrive from China, each of which reputedly cost keen collector the 4th Earl Fitzwilliam the equivalent of a housemaid’s annual wage.

Tasks / challenges

In the 1980s, the Camellia House fell into decline. When the Preservation Trust bought the Mansion in 2017, it was one of many buildings close to dereliction and on Historic England’s Heritage At Risk Register. The glass roof had collapsed and the camellias, exposed to the elements, were 30 feet tall.

Activity

Our York Heritage Team carried out high level inspections to the dangerous structure, designed temporary propping to the historic ironwork roof and specified a programme of structural monitoring to the stone façade. We scheduled conservation repairs to the fabric and designed interventions to allow conversion of the building as a café. These included re-glazing the roof, stonework repairs, and re-profiling internal gutters. The wrought iron trusses were assessed, load-tested and repaired before being re-installed in their original locations. Our Leeds Civils Team assisted with the significant re-location of visitor parking on the Wentworth site by designing a new 230 space car park as part of the Camellia House scheme. They assessed the capacity of the extensive underground system and provided attenuation to reduce pressure on the existing drainage system.

Results

This previously forgotten Grade II* listed glasshouse, formerly Lady Rockingham’s Tea Room, has undergone complete restoration and renovation and is now open as a new dining destination. It has been successfully removed from the Heritage At Risk Register. It won best Innovation in Environmental Improvement in the Green Apple Environmental Awards 2023 and was shortlisted for the RICS Award 2024.