Chester House Estate officially opened by Princess Anne

A £14.5m heritage site was officially opened by the Princess Royal, almost a year after opening to the public.

Chester House Estate, in Northamptonshire, was bought by the now defunct Northamptonshire County Council in 2004.

The site has evidence of human activity from more than 10,000 years ago and Iron Age and Roman settlements.

Jack Pishhorn, the business manager, said the team wanted to make the site "relevant and exciting for the public".

The house, near Irchester, was built near the site of a walled Roman town. It was severely damaged by a fire in 2010.

Reconstruction work began in 2013 but financial difficulties at Northamptonshire County Council in 2017 and later a contractor going into administration caused delays.

A new contractor was found at the beginning of 2020, but then work was delayed again because of the pandemic. The estate eventually opened in October.

Last year, Northamptonshire County Council was replaced by two unitary authorities, including North Northamptonshire Council, which is now responsible for the site.

Princess Anne was shown around the site before the opening ceremony, including being shown some of the archaeological finds.

Mr Pishhorn said 140,000 visitors had been to the attraction since it opened last year - 50% more than forecast - which he said was a "phenomenal start".

He said the estate had "recruited a facilities supervisor, operations manager, catering manager and an education officer", as well as hiring several interns, doubling the workforce since October.

"We need to ensure we constantly review and evolve what we're doing on site to make sure we're a sustainable visitor attraction and successful education and archive facility for many years to come," he said.

Work has started on two new pedestrian bridges over the River Nene to the site, which should be completed by September.

The estate was also "actively looking for additional grants and support to expand the site," Mr Pishhorn added.

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