Project overview
Fragile gem
“My buildings are paper, like my writings, and both will blow away in ten years after I am dead,” fretted its owner. Horace Walpole died in 1790 yet remarkably Strawberry Hill is still standing over two hundred years later. His house is not just full of architectural and design innovations, but steeped in a strange atmosphere of ‘gloomth’, a deliberate invocation of the medieval Walpole loved. Today one has no trouble imagining how Walpole came to be inspired to write ‘The Castle of Otranto’ the first Gothic Horror novel and forerunner of Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley and Daphne du Maurier. Futhermore, Walpole was used to showing off his house to visitors, much as it will do when the current restoration is complete.
In the 19th Century the house passed to Frances Braham, later Countess Waldegrave, a vivacious political hostess who added drawing and billiard rooms. Strawberry Hill’s purchase in 1923 by the Catholic Education Service for use as a Roman Catholic teacher training college ensured its survival, but not its restoration. Today much of the detailing, where for example vaulting and tracery were fashioned in wood, stucco and papier mâché instead of carved stone, is in a precarious condition.
Strawberry Hill appeared on our 2004 World Monuments Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites to increase public awareness of its sorry state of repair. Strawberry Hill’s inclusion on the Watch List produced several newspaper articles and coincided with a turn on BBC’s ‘Restoration’ programme in 2004.
A high target
Raising £9 million was the next daunting challenge for WMF Britain and the Strawberry Hill Trust. £4.9 million was generously offered by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) on condition of matching funding, and through WMF Britain and the Strawberry Hill Trust grants were successfully received. Matching partners were found in The Robert W. Wilson Challenge to Conserve Our Heritage, The Foyle Foundation, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Linbury Trust and many others. An original part of the fundraising efforts, instigated by the Friends of Strawberry Hill, was the creation of the ‘Strawberry Hill Rose’ by David Austin Roses. The rose was awarded the Prix d'Honneur for fragrance from Nantes in 2007, and a percentage from its sale went towards the restoration project.
Handing over the keys at last
The question of the lease and ownership was finally resolved on 17th September 2007 when St Mary’s University College, a Catholic training college, officially transferred ownership to The Strawberry Hill Trust. It was only then that HLF requirements were satisfied, and work could begin in earnest to restore the building.
Looking forward
The implementation of the management plan will begin in late 2008 with essential repairs to the building envelope and mechanical and electrical services. Later phases will include restoration of the interiors, with the State Apartments receiving US $1,000,000 of funding from the Robert W. Wilson Challenge to Conserve Our Heritage through WMF Britain. The plan also includes the introduction of two education rooms and it is expected that the restored house will become a thriving visitor and educational attraction in 2010.
Layer upon layer
With so much rich history and multi-layered significance, considerable research and investigation had to be carried out in the building. Environmental monitoring, glass surveys, analysis of the papier mâché, stone, stucco and wallpaper layers and extensive archival research are just a few aspects that were explored. Fortunately Strawberry Hill is one of the most comprehensively documented houses in the country. The information amassed from all these investigations informed the creation of an extensive Conservation Management Plan by the architect Peter Inskip of Inskip + Jenkins. It gave great insight into the development of the house, and reinforced the notion of its being constructed exactly to Walpole’s grand plan.