Wentworth Woodhouse restoration costs could hit £50 million

The Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust, which has gathered £7 million to buy the crumbling stately home from the Newbold family, has revised the projected cost of its renovation and development programme from £42.8 million to £50.2 million.

The Advertiser exclusively revealed in February that the trust had met the asking price and a heads of terms agreement had been signed with the owners, the Newbold family, but progress on the sale has been slow since.

Months of investigations have been taking place to determine which repairs are most urgently needed when the trust takes over.

Trust chairman Julie Kenny said this week that she hoped the purchase of the mansion could be completed by the end of the summer, but admitted the process was “moving slowly”.

Ms Kenny, who revealed she was spending one day a week working on the Wentworth project, said: “We are still working through it - it’s not gone away.

“The kind of thing we’re looking at is what urgent repairs need to be done as soon as we take over.

“There are lot of legal responsibilities when taking on a major venture like this.

“We have raised the £7 million asking price but we have also got to raise the money for the works we want to carry out, so we are looking at funding sources.

“We need to make sure everything is watertight.” 

The preservation trust wants to repair and restore 124,000 sq ft Wentworth Woodhouse, which has a 606ft facade, five miles of corridors and sits in 82 acres of grounds, to create holiday lets, a museum and conference facilities. 

After years of public access being denied, the borough’s grandest home has thrown open its doors for regular public events.

Last weekend, Wentworth was the place to be for food lovers - when more than 1,000 people flocked to look around many of the state rooms as Embee Marketing held a two-day Gifts and Grub Fair.

Traditional street food, chilli sauces, gourmet cheeses and chutneys were among the savoury goodies to try and buy, with sticky Mediterranean snacks and gooey cakes to satisfy any sweet tooth, while real ale, milkshakes and ice tea were on offer to wet the whistle.