Read more about the South Tower
The South Tower
A secluded eyrie waits to be restoredDonate now to support this appeal
Help restore an interior of supreme importance
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A pavilion at the south end of the main front with a fine upper chamber, the South Tower offers outstanding vistas of house and grounds.
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The creation of the 1st and 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, the frontage of Wentworth Woodhouse is longer even than Buckingham Palace.
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Yet inside the secluded South Tower, the once opulent plasterwork is crumbling and an exquisitely decorated ceiling has been lost to water ingress.
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In the mid 1770s, Mary, the 2nd Marchioness of Rockingham requested the South Tower as her private parlour (C. Muncaster Castle) .
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With your help we will repair the grandest room with traditional 18th-century skills using the finest craftspeople, to evoke its character in its prime.
Your gift today will
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Support traditional craft skills
Expert craftspeople and their apprentices will reinstate lost plasterwork.
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Create a magical Landmark for two in Yorkshire
A grand yet intimate space with glorious views over the countryside
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Unlock the necessary funds for work to start this summer
Your support will help us get on site.
Within a house of power and pomp, sits a chamber of exquisite elegance
There really is nowhere that compares to Wentworth Woodhouse; a monumental Palladian palace in South Yorkshire. After its aristocratic heyday in the late 18th and 19th centuries, when over 1,000 guests would attend legendary receptions and parties, it fell into disrepair.
Open-cast coal mining in the 1940s and 50s came to within yards of the rear façade and after a series of family tragedies it narrowly avoided demolition. In 2014, the derelict mansion was bought by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust (WWPT). When they approached Landmark to play a part in their mission to restore the vast 300-room house, the South Tower immediately caught our attention.
The glorious parlour used by the Marchioness of Rockingham needs urgent action.
If we can raise the necessary funds it will make the most spell-binding Landmark.
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Like the 2nd Marquess and Marchioness we will require the finest craftspeople and materials to recreate the glory of the South Tower.
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The parlour is a rare and exciting survival of undiluted feminine taste in the 18th-century and includes plaques that tell of heroic women in classical times.
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The 2nd Marquess sponsored the training of the great sculptor Joseph Nollekens. This marble panel will be reinstated above the fireplace.
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We know the contents of the room at the 2nd Marquess’s death from a 1782 inventory. This will help guide our furnishing decisions.
Thank you for helping us to raise
£528,800
towards the revival and survival of this unique part of the Wentworth Woodhouse story.
We are enormously grateful.
Help us to restore this exquisite interior
£25 supports the cleaning and repair of the plaster friezes, lunettes and roundels.
£40 supports the restoration of the soaring sash windows.
£80 helps furnish the upper chamber with elegant, historical pieces.
£200 enables specialist plasterers to remake a section of the beautiful ceiling.
