Wentworth Woodhouse is thought to be the UK’s largest stately home. With it’s 365 rooms and the longest facade in all of Europe, the recently launched renovation of this house is a mind-boggling project, taking into account that it was in a terrible state of repair when bought by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust for seven million pounds in 2017.
The final repair bill is expected to be in excess of 100 million pounds and the repairs will probably take 15 years to complete. I hope I live to see the day it is finally unveiled in all it’s glory.
When we visited there was a film crew using parts of the house to shoot a movie so we could not do the full tour and trying to walk around the stunning gardens was put paid to by pouring rain. We did see the entrance to the infamous bear pit where the Duke of Norfolk kept two bears in a tiny pit for the amusement of visitors when he opened the gardens. It made me feel ill to think of these poor bears and luckily the practice was stopped in 1870 when a child was allegedly clawed to death.
I managed to get a few shots that give a tiny glimpse of the beauty of the gardens but pictures of the house and interior were almost impossible due to the rain, the bad light and the pesky film crew.