Landmark Spring 11

Landmark News The Landmark Trust newsletter

Issued twice yearly

Spring 2011

Cowside to open this autumn

The Landmark Trust is a building preservation charity that rescues historic buildings at risk for everyone to enjoy, giving them a new life by letting them for inspiring holidays.

Cowside, a late seventeenth-century stone farmhouse deep in the Yorkshire Dales overlooking the River Wharfe near Buckden, will open its doors to the first Landmarkers this autumn. We are now upgrading the existing track along the Wharfe to allow Landmarkers to park just inside the field gate beside the river, directly below the house.

Inside

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Five Landmarks by the sea

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Green energy

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Astley Castle takes shape

Cowside will be our first mainland Landmark to draw no energy at all from the National Grid. Instead, a combined liquefied petroleum gas heat and power generator, supplemented with methane from the house’s sewage treatment system, will provide enough energy for all the usual facilities. Once the heating has stabilised humidity levels, we will finally be able to investigate Cowside’s last secret. Late seventeenth-century wall paintings, extremely rare in Yorkshire, have been discovered in the parlour below later layers of limewash.

The restoration of Cowside was only possible thanks to the generosity of many supporters, including a number of legacies, in particular that of Mrs Sylvia Chapman. Cowside will be a splendid place for up to five people to stay in right at the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park with wonderful walking from the door.

Cowside will be open for holidays from Friday 21 October 2011. You can make bookings from Monday 23 May by telephoning the Booking Office and from Wednesday 1 June online and via the Booking Office.

Work at Cowside, North Yorkshire, is progressing well and is on plan for an October opening

Landmark Holidays Letter from the Director Quietly in the background at Landmark, but nevertheless I hope noticed by you, a major programme to refurbish our older Landmarks has been running, and in particular their bathrooms, kitchens and heating. The most recent of these has been Plas Uchaf, its medieval hall now warmed by underfloor heating fed from an air source heat pump.

There have already been others, and there will be many more in the coming years. Such expensive investments in our existing buildings must be balanced against the desire to keep tackling new rescue projects, although we

Peter Pearce on Lundy

try to combine both. They stretch our finances; letting income has always supported our properties and organisation, but such major refurbishments can go beyond that. In effect, buildings which we first rescued and restored over 30 years ago again become new projects. This programme will continue, combining the modern day expectations for comfort with the charm of the old.

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Royal Landmarks The imminent royal wedding makes this the ideal year to book a Landmark with a royal connection. Cawood Castle, formerly principal residence of the Archbishops of York, lodged many royal visitors, including Henry III, Edward I and Henry VIII. Hampton Court Palace (The Georgian House and Fish Court) is even more closely associated with Henry VIII. Collegehill House beside Rosslyn Chapel was visited by Queen Victoria Appleton Water Tower, Norfolk with her 17 year old son, the future Edward VII, who scratched his name on a window pane. His signature was confirmed 90 years later by his own son, George V. Edward and George perhaps only survived to assume the throne thanks to the clean water supplied by Appleton Water Tower on the Sandringham Estate from 1877, where both suffered typhoid scares.

Edward, Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson seem much in the news in this 75th year since his abdication. Their former country house, now a hugely popular Landmark, can be enjoyed outside Paris at Le Moulin de la Tuilerie. We have been honoured in recent years with visits by our Patron, HRH The Prince of Wales, to The Grange and Dolbelydr, and by HRH The Earl of Wessex to Lundy.

Cawood Castle, North Yorkshire

Ground floor bedroom at Cavendish Hall We have created a ground floor twin bedroom with ensuite bathroom at Cavendish Hall, looking west over the gardens. Specially designed for the less mobile, the bathroom has a more accessible lavatory and walk-in shower with grab rails. The room can be requested at time of booking, although the house will still only provide accommodation for a maximum of 12 people. (One of the attic bedrooms will be locked if the ground floor bedroom is required.)

Booking Office 01628 825925 Monday to Friday 9am - 6pm and Saturday 10am - 4pm

Bird watching at Landmarks Entries in our buildings’ Logbooks frequently record the richness of birdlife around them.

Lundy is a birdwatcher’s paradise, with the largest seabird colony in the southwest. It is an important stopping off point for the spring and autumn migrations, with over 300 species recorded on the island annually. Sheltered Saddell Bay is a similar haven for birdwatchers.

Saddell Castle, Saddell, Argyll and Bute From on high at Peters Tower you can spot avocets, black-tailed godwits, curlews and dunlins on the Exe estuary.

Woodland Landmarks like Frenchman’s Creek or Hole Cottage offer equal avian activity for avid birdwatchers.

New Handbook launched The new edition (the 24th) of the Landmark Trust Handbook is now available.

We have carried out a major redesign, giving a contemporary twist to an old favourite. The 272-page Handbook includes lots of new photography and makes an interesting present as well as, we hope, a good read. It contains details of ten new Landmarks, as well as the latest plans of all existing ones, together with a series of articles about Landmark’s conservation work and our approach to furnishing our buildings. The cost of the Handbook remains £10 plus postage and packing.

You can purchase it on our website, by telephoning 01628 825925 or by completing the attached The 24th edition of the Landmark Trust Handbook order form.

Kingswear Castle, Devon

Kingswear Castle This sixteenth-century castle stands almost on the water’s edge and offers views across to Dartmouth or out to sea. Opposite sits Dartmouth Castle, Kingswear’s partner in defending the harbour.

The Egyptian House From the extraordinary façade of the Egyptian House you can walk besides the sea to St Michael’s Mount in one direction or Mousehole in the other.

Tower Hill Tower Hill perches above St David’s with its windows framing views of the Cathedral. The sea is about a mile away in most directions and the coastal footpath almost encircles St David’s.

Coombe The eight cottages that make up the hamlet of Coombe are built among orchards round a ford on a shallow stream and are a short walk from the sea at Duckpool.

Here a sandy beach is exposed at half tide and the coastal footpath winds its way towards Bude and Morwenstow.

Fort Clonque

Olympic Landmarks 2012 The London Olympics in 2012 will be a once in a lifetime experience. As we did for the Millennium and in support of ongoing projects, we are holding an auction of stays in Landmarks close to Olympic venues. Announced on 15 March, the same day that tickets for the Olympics went on sale, the auction will run from 10 May until 15 July 2011. Details of how to participate are on our website or call the Booking Office.

Check availability and prices, and book online at www.landmarktrust.org.uk

Five Landmarks by the sea

The fort is built into the rocks of a small peninsula which is often cut off during high tide. A stay here, surrounded by the sea, allows you to witness its changing moods and reflect on the lives of the Victorian soldiers once stationed here.

Email bookings@landmarktrust.org.uk

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2011 Open Days Landmark Open Days are open to all and admission is free. These buildings will be open from 10am to 4pm unless stated otherwise.

Anderton House, Devon Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September Auchinleck House, Ayrshire Sunday 4 September Casa Guidi, Florence, Italy Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 May Clavell Tower, Dorset Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September Dolbelydr, Denbighshire Friday 13 to Monday 16 May* Friday 9 to Tuesday 13 September* Freston Tower, Suffolk Friday 6 to Monday 9 May* Friday 9 to Tuesday 13 September*

Green energy – an idea Green, or renewable, energy systems in Landmarks make sense at every level. They contribute to the universal cause of environmental stewardship, they can reduce ever-spiralling energy costs across our portfolio and their constancy of temperature is better for ancient buildings as they ease their timber joints and breathe in gentle equilibrium with outside humidity levels.

Until recently, the long payback periods on renewable energy systems worked against them. That has now changed. We have accelerated their installation wherever feasible when refurbishing our buildings and such systems are evaluated for all new Landmarks.

The Gothic Temple, Buckinghamshire Sunday 22 May† Saturday 10 September† Sunday 30 October† The Grange, Kent Friday 13 to Monday 16 May* Friday 9 to Tuesday 13 September* Keeper's Cottage, Bedfordshire Friday 9 to Sunday 11 September Morpeth Castle, Northumberland Sunday 11 September Queen Anne's Summerhouse, Bedfordshire Friday 17 to Sunday 19 June Friday 9 to Sunday 11 September The Ruin, North Yorkshire Saturday 10 to Sunday 11 September Villa Saraceno, Vicenza Sunday 3 July The White House, Shropshire Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September Wilmington Priory, East Sussex Friday 9 to Tuesday 13 September* Woodspring Priory, Somerset Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 May *On the final open day the Landmark will be open from 10am to 1pm. †Opening times 10:30am to 4pm.

Please note that there is a National Trust admission charge to Stowe Landscape Gardens.

Please check our website for the latest information and opening times.

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The 90 metre boreholes needed for the ground source heat pump at Queen Anne’s Summerhouse being drilled

Our first water source heat pump, which extracts heat from the adjacent stream, being installed at Mill House in Coombe

Various renewable systems are enabling this transformation among Landmarks according to the needs of particular buildings. Solar panels tend to be too visually intrusive for historic buildings, so our preference is for ground and air source heat pump systems. Small amounts of mains electricity drive their pumps to circulate the fluids that capture the heat, but the latent energy they harvest is inexhaustible.

Ground source heat systems require large runs or depths of pipework to capture the heat from the soil into circulating water. The heat is then concentrated by a compressor for hot water, radiators and underfloor heating. This is the system at Queen Anne’s Summerhouse, using three 90 metre boreholes.

Air source heat pump systems extract heat from the air, even at outside temperatures as low as -15˚C. Working on the same principle as a refrigerator to retrieve the heat initially, a compressor again ‘condenses’ the recovered heat to higher temperatures. This heat is then used to heat water in a large cylinder where, depending on the type of system, it can be used for domestic hot water and a wet central heating system either as underfloor heating or radiators. Some systems work at lower temperatures than conventional heating but over a longer period of time, in order to provide comfortable, steady and At Fox Hall insulated pipes carrying the water heated by the air source heat pump were buried in a flint wall that also needed repair controllable background heat.

whose time has come How a heat pump works

1. Typically 75% of the energy is taken from the environment (the air, the ground or water) and transferred to the heat pump.

4. This gas is compressed by an electrically driven compressor which causes its temperature to rise.

2. Approximately 25% of the energy is sourced from the national grid and used to operate the heat pump.

5. A condenser then extracts the heat energy from the refrigerant and uses it to heat water for central heating, underfloor heating and domestic hot water.

3. The energy from the environment causes the temperature of the refrigerant inside the heat pump to rise and change state from a liquid to a gas.

6. The refrigerant then turns back into a liquid and is once again able to absorb energy from the environment.

2011 events Queen Anne’s Summerhouse The June Open Days will feature work created by artists The Curious Guide inspired by the building and memories collected from local residents. Also, performing on the Friday evening will be folk singer Mary Hampton, whose music captures stories woven by our rural traditions.

For further details and to buy tickets for the evening music performance, please contact the Booking Office.

Visitors are welcome to bring along a picnic.

Green energy now warms Plas Uchaf Last autumn, we took advantage of a major refurbishment and re-ordering at Plas Uchaf in Powys to install an air source heat pump. The pump supplies hot water for both the tank and the underfloor heating system. Stone floor slabs laid during our original restoration were carefully numbered and lifted. The concrete sub-floor beneath was replaced with rubble hardcore, on which was laid a limecrete slab to take heating pipes. The result is that Plas Uchaf ’s medieval hall is now warmer than it has ever been in its history.

Five air source heat pumps installed at Wortham Manor Ageing oil-fired boilers and night storage heaters at Wortham Manor were replaced in the teeth of January snows with five linked air source heat pumps. This was a first for the manufacturers, who sent their design engineer from Japan to oversee the installation. The heat stores (large water tanks) were specially made to increase the heat coefficient and three units of energy are now generated for every unit put in. Large historic buildings are always difficult to heat, so we are delighted already to have received feedback from Landmarkers that this fifteenth-century manor house is now much more comfortable.

Wortham Manor, Devon

Plas Uchaf, Powys

A sketch concept for The Curious Guide's artwork to be featured at Queen Anne's Summerhouse

Woodspring Priory Art Exhibition During the Open Days at Woodspring Priory, artist Dave Tabrett will be on site exhibiting his natureinspired photography and sculpture.

Hear first To receive our regular emails including special offers and project updates, please register on our website at: www.landmarktrust.org.uk.

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Projects & Restoration Belmont latest news West Dorset District Councillors have voted to grant Listed Building and Planning Consents for our plans for Grade II* Belmont in Lyme Regis. As well as restoring this eighteenth-century villa encrusted with Coade stone from its owner's factory, there will be an interpretation room in the former stable to celebrate Belmont’s previous owners John Fowles, Eleanor Coade and local Victorian doctor, Richard Bangay. As we go to press, we await ratification of the District Council's decision from the Secretary of State.

An artist’s impression of how Belmont is planned to look after refurbishment

Bats win at Warder’s Tower It is rare indeed for Landmark to be forced to abandon a project.

Bats are a regular presence in historic buildings and usually a solution can be found, but at Warder’s Tower in Staffordshire our ability to create a viable Landmark has been thwarted by the presence of a maternity roost of Daubenton's bats. Legislation for the conservation of species has recently been strengthened following a 2010 European Directive and can now override that for preservation of historic buildings. Despite our deep regret, and frustration, we remain very grateful that almost all donors to our appeal allowed their gifts to be applied to other buildings at risk.

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Update on our current appeals

The Warren House, Cambridgeshire

Phase One works to replace the roof of The Shore Cottages in Caithness were completed ahead of the winter. Meanwhile, our appeal has received a major boost with a £200,000 donation from The Monument Trust, spurring on many individuals to give (and give again) to help us reach our target.

We now have just £18,000 to raise, so please help us if you can.

Landmark’s Site Manager Stuart Leavy, assisted by another of our direct labour team Carl Dowding, will in due course return to site to oversee the cottages’ full restoration. We anticipate it will take about seven months to bring these fishermen’s cottages gently back to life in their tranquil bay, as two Landmarks for two and six people.

Our thanks too to everyone who has donated to our appeal for The Warren House at Kimbolton in Cambridgeshire. We have just £22,000 left to find so please help us to close this gap and get on site this spring. Architect Oliver Caroe worked hard through the autumn to finalise the scheme, which, on the basis of our Historian’s research, acknowledges the building’s original use as a warrener’s lodge as much as its subsequent reincarnation as an eyecatcher for Kimbolton Castle. Living accommodation will be on the first floor to make the most of the views, with a double bedroom and bathroom on the ground floor.

Introducing two new Landmark projects The Dunshay Manor estate, at Worth Matravers in Dorset, was a most generous bequest from sculptress Mary Spencer Watson. The Grade II* stone manor house, which evolved over the centuries, was bought in the 1920s by Mary’s father, renowned artist George Spencer Watson.

Our scheme will conserve the house and gently adapt it to its new purpose.

Dunshay Manor, Dorset

The Hall of Clestrain, on the shores of Scapa Flow on Orkney, has been of interest to us for 20 years and was a regional finalist in the first BBC1 Restoration series. Local proposals to make it into a boat museum fell through and we now hope to make it a Landmark instead. Built in 1769, The Hall of Clestrain is considered the most northerly Classical house in Scotland. It was also the birthplace of John Rae, the largely unsung discoverer by land in 1854 of the last link in the North West passage. Lease negotiations and detailed evaluation are well underway.

The Hall of Clestrain, Orkney

Major fundraising appeals will be needed for both projects, details of which will be available following further investigation of each building.

To make a donation to support our work and ensure historic buildings have a secure future call 01628 825920

Latest improvements and refurbishments As well as the never-ending cycle of maintenance, our surveyors also work hard to keep decorative schemes in good order and improve standards of comfort and presentation.

The House of Correction, Lincolnshire

There are new kitchens at The House of Correction and Purton Green, both early restoration schemes that were beginning to show their age. In our long running battle against damp penetration through the early Tudor brickwork at Laughton Place, the internal walls of the south west face of the tower have been successfully drylined against the prevailing weather. The Steward’s House, part of the Oxford Union site, has been redecorated, as has The Gothic Temple at Stowe, which has also had a new and more efficient heating system installed, the better to heat its lofty central space.

Finally, and in response to your comments, as well as retaining some twin rooms, we have put more double beds into Elton House, Laughton Place, Woodsford Castle and Manor Farm and also made the beds in St Winifred’s Well and Abbey Gatehouse doubles.

Astley Castle takes shape Work is forging ahead at Astley Castle. The castle has been wrapped in sheeted scaffolding through the winter to keep it dry and prevent freshly laid lime mortars from freezing. New brickwork is rising fast, using carefully chosen bricks that both complement, and can be distinguished from, more ancient fabric. The coach house is being stabilised and receiving basic repair.

Astley Castle, Warwickshire

Volunteers with The British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) have worked hard all winter clearing selfseeded sycamores to improve views, grubbing out the moat and opening up paths through the former Victorian shrubbery on the moated site. The BTCV has also been laying out the new knot garden, designed by our competition winner Kate Heppell, as the latest incarnation of a feature that has existed on the site since at least the 1690s.

To ensure wider public enjoyment around this important site, the car park behind the village's Reading Room has been enlarged and the BTCV has begun to lay out the linked interpretation trails around the wider site, with funding from the HLF, and DEFRA and the EU through a LEADER grant. Local schoolchildren and community groups will help design the interpretation boards.

You can make donations online securely and quickly at www.landmarktrust.org.uk

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Order your Handbook To order a Handbook or make a donation to help us rescue buildings at risk, please complete the form below, telephone the Booking Office or go online.

Please send my Handbook(s) to: Name Address Postcode Please send me information on becoming a Friend of the Landmark Trust.

Each Handbook costs £10 plus postage and packing.

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Simply tick the Gift Aid box below and the Landmark Trust can claim an additional 25% from the Government.

I would like the Landmark Trust to reclaim the tax on any qualifying donations made by me in the previous four years and all donations I make hereafter as Gift Aid donations until further notice*.

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If you wish to opt out of particular types of mailing in the future please call us on 01628 825920, write to us or send an email to dataprotection@landmarktrust.org.uk, giving your full name and postcode.

Return to: The Landmark Trust, Shottesbrooke, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 3SW

New Handbook

Our new Handbook is now available.

It has been redesigned and contains 272 pages of beautiful photographs which help portray what is special about our buildings and the experience of staying in them. It also includes fascinating building information, maps and floor plans as well as articles about Landmark’s conservation work that give an insight into what makes Landmarks unique.

Produced in a slightly smaller format, we hope you will find it easier to use but equally engaging and informative.

The cost of the Handbook remains at £10 plus postage and packing. Why not buy it as a gift, or simply treat yourself to a good read?

Order your Handbook • Online

at www.landmarktrust.org.uk

• Booking

Office on 01628 825925

• Or

complete the form overleaf and return it to The Landmark Trust, Shottesbrooke, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 3SW

We hope that you will enjoy the new-look Handbook.

Hedge laying at Stockwell Farm

Win a £3,000 holiday Enter our Spring Raffle by 6 May for your chance to win your dream Landmark holiday, while contributing to our current restoration projects. First prize is a holiday to the value of £3,000, and there are also two second prizes of £1,000 of Landmark vouchers and four third prizes of £300 of Landmark vouchers. For more information and to buy tickets online please visit our website.

Discover the Landmark experience

Friends enjoying a reception at Warden Abbey, Bedfordshire

Joining the Friends will give you a greater insight into our work and the opportunity to socialise with others who are enthusiastic about Landmark. The Friends have their own annual newsletter, a programme of events, and opportunities to discover Landmarks through lunchtime receptions or house parties in the UK, Italy and France.

The Friends provide essential funds to support our work through their annual subscriptions. To become a Friend costs just £50 per person per year, or only £43 if you opt to pay

by Direct Debit. Life membership costs £500 and there are also joint membership options available.

Please contact the Friends’ Office on 01628 825920 or visit our website.

This winter, the hedges around Stockwell Farm, Old Radnor, have been relaid by Richard Lewis, Welsh champion hedge layer, in a style typical of Powys.

To lay a hedge from scratch, a row of young hedging plants is first left for a few years to become established. Tips and sideshoots are A laid hedge at Stockwell Farm, Powys then mostly cut away. The main stems are bent sideways until almost horizontal and woven together in one direction. Under this tension, these main stems then grow vertical off-shoots that can be bound back into the main framework. The hedges thicken into effective and self-regenerating barriers, demarcating field boundaries, impenetrable to livestock and a habitat for countless species. Well-laid and maintained hedges can last 1,000 years, but if planted unlaid and left unchecked, they colonise the fields as scrub. At Stockwell Farm, our recent clearance and relaying has opened up our fields for Landmarkers’ enjoyment, as well as encouraging their appreciation of an ancient craft.

The Grange: Country Life award Landmark’s restoration of The Grange in Ramsgate, built by renowned architect and designer A.W. Pugin for himself and his family, has won the Country Life award for the Restoration of the Century for the South of England.

In 2010 Pugin’s picturesque Oxenford Gatehouse, near Elstead in Surrey, also joined our portfolio.

Celebrating Sonia and Tom Rolt

Sonia Rolt during her time as a Landmark Librarian

Congratulations to Sonia Rolt, author, canal expert and long serving Landmark Librarian and stalwart, on her recent OBE. Sonia’s late husband, L.T.C (Tom) Rolt, was a writer and engineer who campaigned for canals and industrial archaeology. The centenary of his birth was celebrated last year with a new edition of his works.

The Landmark Trust Shottesbrooke Maidenhead Berkshire SL6 3SW Bookings 01628 825925 Office 01628 825920

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The Grange, Kent

Printed on an FSC certified mixed sources paper containing 50% recovered waste and 50% virgin fibre.

Website www.landmarktrust.org.uk

Charity registered in England & Wales 243312 and Scotland SC039205