"All of us are very passionate about what we’ve achieved" - Weston Park is celebrating 40 years of preserving a national treasure
In 1986, the seventh Earl of Bradford gifted Weston Park’s stately home, its Capability Brown parkland and vast art collection to the nation.
Today, it is owned and maintained by the Weston Park Foundation, which is committed to preserving the estate for public and educational benefit and ensuring it remains accessible to future generations to come.
Every penny raised through visitors, events and memberships is reinvested into the estate and over the years a wide range of restoration projects have taken place such as the Grade II listed Temple of Diana and The Rose Garden.
This year marks the foundation’s 40th anniversary and its trustees and volunteers are celebrating their journey so far while also looking forward to building on their achievements as they respond to changing visitor demands and expectations.
“We continue to look at ways we can fulfil our objectives and keep the charity sustainable,” says Chief Executive Colin Sweeney.
“We’re 40 years old and the charity has done a great job taking on that responsibility for the estate and developing it, restoring and investing.
“And I think in some ways it can be quite easy to look at Weston now and think it was ever thus – and it wasn’t, it has taken a long time to get here – and maybe that it’s also very wealthy because we have been able to get it to a very nice standard in many places and restore some of the beautiful buildings but obviously all of these things come with enormous responsibility and costs.
“That balance is always a stress and always a challenge and always something that has to be at the centre of our plans.
“The intention of handing the estate over into a charitable trust back in 1986 was with the objective of ensuring its long-term sustainability and restoration.
“There were lots of projects, however, that needed to be done when the charity took over right across the board.”
Colin says the foundation’s “huge achievements” over the past four decades fall into three main areas – the house and collections; the park and gardens; and the estate buildings.
“I think a great achievement in the house has been to re-present some of the key parts of the collections and the important heritage assets that we are responsible for.
