Monday, 4 May 2015

Open to the Public...

On this Bank Holiday weekend, the fully restored conservatory opened to the public for the first time.

Lots of visitors turned out in the sunshine to see the restoration first-hand and enjoy the new displays on the history of the conservatory and Scampston Hall.

Scampston Conservatory in the sunshine
Inside the main conservatory
More visitors arrive
One of the volunteers tells visitors about the history of the conservatory...
...and shows them the old Green's Boiler hidden beneath the floor

Education rooms in the old bothys

The gardener's office...

...and writing desk

Heritage displays in the bothys

Pelargoniums in the main Conservatory

Walks with 'John and Gordon' the Victorian gardeners...

...in the Spring sunshine.

All images ©Callaghan Photography 2015

The restoration work is being led by Caroe Architects, with project management from Buro Four, and building contractors William Birch & Sons Ltd



Monday, 20 April 2015

Nearly There…



Visitors to Scampston this Spring can now admire the freshly revealed and beautiful reborn conservatory, presiding once again over the Walled Gardens – but you’ll have to wait a little longer to view the stylish new interior, which will be revealed later this month.

Plumbing, lighting and electrics are in and the day we visited the telecoms were being installed and plants had arrived, ready to fill the conservatory with colour.

If you can’t wait to get inside and admire the completed interiors, enjoy this preview of some of the delights awaiting you.







All images ©Callaghan Photography 2015

The restoration work is being led by Caroe Architects, with project management from Buro Four, and building contractors William Birch & Sons Ltd



Friday, 17 April 2015

Conservatory Fitting Out


April has been a very busy time with the handover of the Scampston Conservatory from the contractors William Birch and final fitting out work.  This has included fitting external blinds, benches for plants, screens /  audio visual equipment and exhibition panels.



The restored conservatory with blinds fitted


Benches for plants in the hot house have been installed and a range of plants have started to arrive to provide a wonderful display for visitors in the hot-house.  Several new volunteers helped with installing the plants after a recent volunteer training morning.

Pelargoniums being unpacked
Pelargoniums ready for potting 

The hard work by volunteers from The Croft-  Camphill  Village Trust continues, helping to prepare the beds in front of the conservatory and potting on the Pelargonium  plants ready for installation on the benches in the hot house.

Camphill volunteers preparing the beds



















Camphill hard at work
Pelargoniums being re-potted 

In the bothies,  work continues installing exhibition panels and old tools for  two exhibitions - Life at Scampston - Indoors and Out and another on the history of  Richardson Conservatories.
Exhibition panels ready for installation....




The final fit-out and cleaning / preparation for opening now continues......





Thursday, 26 February 2015

School Newshounds

At the end of February, School children from West Heslerton CE Primary School, Settrington All Saints CE School and Rillington Community Primary School had the
opportunity to meet an interview Oliver Caroe the architect for the  Scampston Conservatory Restoration project.


The children were first welcomed by staff from William Birch for  a health and safety , briefing, before embarking on a guided tour of the conservatory and gardeners bothies, now in their final stages of restoration.











A few reports of the visit below from Settrington Newshounds.....:-

On the 26th February me and the rest of the year sixes went to Scampston Hall, to look at the new refurbished glass conservatory designed by Oliver Caroe.  I had an awesome morning looking at the huge glass conservatory that's worth 1 million pounds.  He told us a man called William Richardson originally made the conservatory.  I think Oliver Caroe is a brilliant architect, he should definitely keep on designing buildings!

When I went to see the glass conservatory under construction at Scampston Hall I had lots of fun.  We  were guided by Paul Mosley and Oliver Caroe.  We started by going round to see the outside, then we went into a large room made of glass and supported by beams.  In this room we talked about the original builders and the owners of the hall and gardens.  It was a very wet, rainy day and we got very soggy, but I still had fun and hope to go again! 

The visit to Scampston Hall was interesting.  I enjoyed looking in all the rooms (I was the one who kept asking "What's in that room?").  I learned about all the beams and the glass in the conservatory.  Oliver Caroe has designed some amazing buildings and I enjoyed looking at his plans. 

Saturday, 7 February 2015

Our conservatory rises again!




Our newly restored Conservatory is coming together and looking beautiful!

The main structure is nearly ready, the roof is mostly on and the trades are all in, fixing electrics and furnishings, plumbing the bathrooms, laying tiles and painting the walls. 






Everyone has been working tirelessly throughout the coldest snowy weather to get everything ready in time for opening later this Spring. Progress is good and we are looking forward to visitors enjoying the Conservatory throughout the coming season.

The conservatory is more spacious and easily accessible, with floors now on one level, wider doorways and well-designed lighting and heating.



All images ©Callaghan Photography 2015

The restoration work is being led by Caroe Architects, with project management from Buro Four, and building contractors William Birch & Sons Ltd