The Future Of Trentham Hall Looks Bleak

Already firmly established on the English Heritage “at risk” register, it looks as though the sands of time are running out for Trentham Hall, the 180-year-old Trentham Hall, in Trentham Gardens near Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire

Estimated restoration costs are running at close to £35 million ($52.5 million), and although planning permission has been granted to turn the dilapidated building into a conference hotel, the cost of repairs are too high for developer St Modwen. Many millions of pounds have been spent on the estate since it was bought by St Modwen in 1996, when it was in such a state that both the buildings and extensive gardens were derelict and vandalised.

Mike Herbert, the North Staffordshire regional director at St Modwen, said that much money had been spent in maintaining the site from further deterioration. After a restoration of the gardens in 2003, the estate was re-opened in 2004 and now attracts some three million visitors every year.  He said of the Grade II-listed buildings: ‘We have planning approvals for the restoration of Trentham Hall but the cost of doing so is significantly greater than its current value.

‘To restore and rebuild it would cost around £30-£35 million, but the current value as a hotel is well below that. Therefore, it is just not economically viable in the current economy. Developing the hall was planned for five to ten years after we started the restoration but we have had somewhat of a recession in the last few years and this has delayed the plans completely.

Trentham Hall

'We are looking to see if there are ways of making the scheme work financially. The plan of a major conference centre is particularly expensive and difficult to market. We are committed to bringing the hall back to life, it's just a question of when we can make the numbers work.'

Dr Simon Thurley, chief executive of English Heritage, said: ‘Grade II-listed buildings are the bulk of the nation's heritage treasury so when one of them is lost, it is as though someone has rubbed out a bit of the past.  Something that made the area special will have gone. But now, with the economic climate putting more pressure than ever on these buildings, it is time to plug the one remaining gap.’

The spectacular and vast gardens were once tended by up to 50 gardeners and were recently refurbished and replanted with thousands of plants and flowers to return it to its former glory. It is still maintained by a huge staff and is seen by many visitors especially in spring and summer. The famous Italian Gardens were revived by award-winning designer Tom Stuart-Smith.

There are records of the Trentham estate dating back to 1086 and since then it has been home to many prominent people including the Duke of Suffolk, Sir Thomas Pope, Earl Gower and was the former seat of the Dukes of Sutherland until it was abandoned in 1905.

A sculpture gallery, the 100ft clock tower, parish church are among the buildings which remain after the main hall was demolished in 1913.

Originally an Augustinian Priory and then a convent, a large Elizabethan house was built in the 1630s.   It is thought to have been demolished to make way for the construction of the Georgian Trentham Hall.

The house was dramatically renovated by famous architect Sir Charles Barry during the mid-1830s, at the same time he was working on the rebuilding of the Houses of Parliament.  He was commissioned by the second Duke of Sutherland to make the house grander in order to show off his wealth as the largest landowner in Britain at the time.

For more than 10 years, Sir Charles Barry made improvements to the house adding a new block with state bedrooms complete with dressing rooms and its own servants’ quarters as well as the sculpture gallery and the clock tower. New family quarters and a grand main entrance displaying the family coat of arms as well as life-size wolves were also built.

Even the River Trent was incorporated into the estate’s design. The river was diverted to flow into a lake in the extensive garden.  But the lake became a blight on the beautiful estate when it became polluted by sewage from local potteries around the 1900s.

Such a disfigurement on the estate, it was offered for free to the County of Staffordshire and the Borough of Stoke-on-Trent in 1905 but by 1907 it stood abandoned and so the bulk of the estate was demolished in 1912. Sad endings for a once illustrious estate.