Repair work starts on Grade I listed country house

Work has started to repair and restore a Grade I listed Derbyshire country house after the "elements have taken their toll" on the building.

The National Trust said the work, expected to take 24 weeks, was under way at Calke Abbey to repair and restore the 65 first and second floor windows and walls on the west and south front of the house.

The £500,000 works are being completed to prevent leaks and damp conditions inside the rooms to "protect Calke’s historic objects and interiors", said the trust.

"Over time, the elements have taken their toll on this historic building, resulting in the need for repair", added the trust.

To preserve the baroque exterior during the works, the trust said it will use oak timber from the Calke estate, alongside Hollington and Swinton Stone, which are the closest matching stone available today.

With the remaining sides of the house due to be completed, the trust said this phase of works are a "small chunk" of the bigger restoration plans at the house, which will total around £1m once complete.

Jess Palin, senior collections and house officer at Calke Abbey, said: "Phase one was last year, where we had our ground floor windows fixed up.

"Next year, we will be doing the other phase with the remaining two elevations, and after that, we will be looking at our courtyard and roof."

On this year's works, Ms Palin said: "As soon as our windows are rotting and the elements are getting in, we see a rate of deterioration that we cannot maintain.

"It is important to sympathetically do work to the property to make sure we can look after it forever."

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