Muncaster Castle near Ravenglass is to receive a vital boost from the Historic Houses Foundation to fund an essential restoration.
One of Cumbria’s most famous medieval buildings, it has been given a major financial boost by the Historic Houses Foundation to make essential repairs to the property.
The foundation made the £200,000 award from a £2.1 million Heritage Stimulus Fund programme it manages for Historic England. Its grants help support properties in the heritage sector which have experienced very sharp falls in revenue during the pandemic, directly impacting their ability to maintain, repair and renovate their buildings.
The Historic Houses Foundation is a leading funder of architectural conservation and one of the only bodies able to support buildings in private ownership. The Muncaster Castle grant is for critical repairs to the drawing-room where damp is threatening severe damage.
It is one of 13 nationally important properties which can begin work immediately on urgent repairs ranging from chimneys to roofs and internal structural and decorative features.
Muncaster Castle is a haunted medieval castle with views over the Lakeland Fells, where 14th-century towers lead to sumptuous 19th-century staterooms. Home to Iona and Peter Frost Pennington whose family have lived there since 1208, the house is filled with family portraits, historic textiles and works of art. It was also home Tom Skelton, the last Fool in Britain.
At Muncaster Castle, the funds will enable repairs to protect vulnerable Italianate plasterwork ceilings in the drawing-room which risk damage from the damp, requiring critical repair work. The drawing room houses a priceless collection of portraits of the Pennington and Ramsden families.
Owner, Peter Frost Pennington said: “We are delighted to receive this Historic Houses Foundation funding to repair the elegant Drawing Room at Muncaster Castle, with its exquisite barrel-vaulted plasterwork ceiling and portraits by artists including Reynolds, Gainsborough and Philip de Laszlo.
“It welcomes both day visitors and events such as dinners, theatre, music and especially weddings. It is core to the economic activities at Muncaster, particularly providing employment and, once repaired, visitor access will flourish anew.”
Work will begin immediately and continue over the winter months before the start of the new tourist season in spring 2022. It will provide welcome employment to a wide range of traditional craftsmen and building professionals in addition to other local employment opportunities.
Grant funding will enable urgently needed repairs in the drawing-room where damp is threatening unique plasterwork on the barrel-ceiling
The nationally recognised expertise of the Historic Houses Foundation’s eight volunteer trustees makes it ideally suited to identifying projects most in need of support.
Norman Hudson OBE, Chairman of the Historic Houses Foundation said: “We are delighted to have been selected as a Delivery Partner for this important round of Government funding. As a small nimble charity, we know that the money will kick-start restoration projects postponed by the pandemic.
“This money arrives just as we have launched our first major fundraising campaign which will expand our abilities to help threatened historic buildings, keeping them at the centre of their communities and creating specialist jobs.”
