The final phase of emergency repairs at Wollaton Hall is set to take place as work continues to protect one of Nottingham’s best-known historic buildings.
The Grade I listed Elizabethan mansion, built between 1580 and 1588, was added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register in 2023 after serious water damage was found across the building.
Historic England described the hall’s condition at the time as “very bad”, with water leaking through the roof and damaging painted ceilings, kitchen areas, window frames and other parts of the building.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds have already been spent on urgent repairs, and a further £110,000 will now be used to complete the remaining works.
Councillor Steve Battlemuch, Labour councillor for Wollaton West, said the money was essential to protect the hall.
He said: “This money for essential maintenance for the hall is vital to continue to preserve the structure of the hall.
“This is a major piece of history on our doorsteps – it’s a brilliant tourist destination and asset for the city. We need to continue to love, cherish and protect it.”
Wollaton Hall was bought by Nottingham City Council in 1925 and opened as a museum the following year.
It is now home to Nottingham’s Natural History Museum.
The city council was previously awarded £469,992 from Arts Council England’s Museum Estate and Development Fund to help repair the roof, drainage, stonework, render, windows, walls and decorative features.
Water ingress had caused problems in the North Terrace and more serious damage in the Tudor kitchen area, which was described as being in very poor condition.
Historic England also said previous repair schemes had caused harm to parts of the building.
In the Thornhill South stairwell, water had damaged important painted ceilings, with problems linked to limited guttering capacity in the roof above.
Water damage has also affected the roofing and internal spaces of all four towers, while some timber window frames have been failing.
Repair work has been taking place since the hall was added to the Heritage at Risk Register, but the original Arts Council England grant was not enough to cover the full scope of urgent repairs.
Some work was therefore removed from the initial programme.
Further funding has now been confirmed through Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisation programme, allowing the remaining urgent repairs to go ahead.
Colin Parr, corporate director for communities, environment and resident services at Nottingham City Council, said: “Wollaton Hall is on the Heritage at Risk Register, primarily because of a backlog of urgent maintenance repairs.
“In 2023 the council was awarded a MEND grant which enabled some of the repair works to be completed.
“Midland Conservation Ltd competitively tendered and was awarded the contract. However, the scope of works was pared back substantially to fit within the MEND award.
“However, grant monies have been confirmed through the ACE National Portfolio Organisation programme and ringfenced towards delivering the remaining urgent maintenance repairs that had to be taken out of the original scope of works.
“This includes ground floor and basement window repairs, masonry repairs following the removal of contemporary render, and making safe internal ceilings within the Hall towers that have previously fallen through from long-term ingress.”