Historic Houses

Our 2025 Historic Houses Award Winners were announced today. Congratulations to all six winners:

Garden of the Year, Public Vote - Arundel Castle Gardens , sponsored by

Garden of the Year, Judges’ Choice - Wollerton Old Hall Garden , sponsored by

Collections Award - Fairfax House , sponsored by

Restoration Award - Castle Howard , sponsored by

Frances Garnham Award for Education - Dr Jenner’s House, Museum & Garden

Diversification Award - Mapperton House and Gardens

We have some award winners to tell you about...

Congrats to our six brilliant winners of our 2024 Awards, announced at the Historic Houses National AGM earlier this week.

Garden of the Year Award - Inveraray Castle & Gardens
Inveraray Castle

Garden of the Year Judges' Choice - Belcombe Court

Restoration Award - Glyn Cywarch

Collections Award - Grimsthorpe Castle
Grimsthorpe Castle

Frances Garnham Award for Education - Ushaw
Ushaw Historic House, Chapels & Gardens

Sustainability Award - Haddon Hall
Haddon Hall

So well deserved for all winners. Head to our website to find out more about each winner, our awards, and the great work our houses and gardens are doing!

We're delighted to announce that the winner of this year's Historic Houses Garden of the Year 2024, sponsored by Christie's, is... Inveraray Castle & Gardens!

Votes were cast between April and September to give Inveraray the title, triumphing over five other worthy contenders for the crown of 2024 Garden of the Year.

This prestigious national award, presented annually since 1984, is designed to recognise the importance of some of the country’s most spectacular gardens with outstanding horticultural and public appeal. The award is voted for by members of the public who judge the gardens based on a variety of factors that contribute to their enjoyment.

Inveraray Castle is an eighteenth century turreted castle, seat of the Clan Campbell and home to the Dukes of Argyll. The gardens at Inveraray are home to the Duke and Duchess who have spent joyous times with family and friends over the years. They enjoy the changing of the seasons and the ability to present and share the gardens with their 85,000 guests who come to visit the castle every year.

The gardens have reflected the times, and each Duke has taken a keen interest in ensuring that the legacy evolves throughout the years with many different species of plantation and horticulture. The garden covers sixteen acres, of which around two acres are formal lawns and flowerbeds, the remainder being park and woodland. Extending to 180 hectares, they form one of the most important designed landscapes in Scotland.

The Historic Houses Collections Award 2024 | SHORTLIST ANNOUNCEMENT

Abbotsford The Home of Sir Walter Scott

Abbotsford is home to the collections of furniture, militaria, art, rare books and antiquarian curiosities amassed by Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832), one of the most popular writers of the nineteenth century. Scott was already a famous writer and an antiquarian by the time he purchased Abbotsford and the house interiors were specifically designed to showcase his collections as “a museum for living in”. It is this celebration of objects and their stories that makes Abbotsford a theatrical stage set for the objects it contains. Today, the Collections team of two facilitate over one hundred separate research and special access requests a year.

There is a real enthusiasm for smaller items. Some of his most prized items, from locks of celebrity hair to s***f boxes, quaichs (drinking cups), and even an oatcake crumb found in the pocket of a dead Highlander at Culloden, are displayed in a cabinet of curiosities in the Library to allow for visitors to easily see more of these precious artefacts.

This year’s judging panel includes Julie Montagu, Hatta Byng, Will Fisher, Will Richards, and Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE. They are on the look-out, not for the ‘best’ collection, but rather for the most compelling story of custodianship.

Over the summer, Julie Montagu visited Deene Park to learn more about their collection and the essential conservation work they do to safeguard it for the future.

The winner of this year's award (which is sponsored annually by Dreweatts 1759) will be announced this November. Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we announce the shortlist!

The Historic Houses Collections Award 2024 | SHORTLIST ANNOUNCEMENT

Waddesdon Manor

Waddesdon Manor was built from 1874 by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild of the Vienna branch of the Rothschild family, to entertain the fashionable world and display his magnificent collection. Particular strengths are 18th-century British painting and French decorative arts, including Sevres porcelain and inlaid marquetry furniture, Savonnerie carpets, tapestries, books and bindings, gold boxes and metalwork.

Thanks to the influence of Lord Rothschild and the Rothschild Family, Waddesdon is still a living house and collection. They continue to make significant acquisitions and organise exhibitions that engage different audiences. Collaborating with contemporary artists, they use innovative ways to respond to their history. A recent exhibition, Flights of Fancy, focuses on the Rothschild family's interest in birds, featuring 18th-century porcelain, their bird collections, and the conservation efforts of the Aviary, one of Europe's smallest zoos. The exhibition also highlights the management of Waddesdon’s gardens to promote biodiversity and reverse habitat loss.

This year’s judging panel includes Julie Montagu, Hatta Byng, Will Fisher, Will Richards, and Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE. They are on the look-out, not for the ‘best’ collection, but rather for the most compelling story of custodianship.

Over the summer, Julie Montagu visited Waddesdon Manor to learn more about their collection.

The winner of this year's award (which is sponsored annually by Dreweatts 1759) will be announced this November. Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we announce the shortlist!

The Historic Houses Collections Award 2024 | SHORTLIST ANNOUNCEMENT

Burton Constable Hall

Burton Constable is host to nationally important, if not internationally important, collections; key among these are the Chippendale collections and William Constable’s Cabinet of Curiosities, one of the finest examples of such collections to survive in its original settings. The collections capture a wide-ranging insight into the history of this great house, which has belonged to the Constable family for 800 years. The collection contains almost all material types, from fine fabrics and furnishings to unique plans and drawings, amateur sketches and fine art, curiosities and religious artefacts through to wheelchairs, whales and exercise horses. The dates for these items span from the 17th to 21st centuries and capture a unique glimpse of a home which has passed through many branches of the same family all with their own interests.

Burton Constable is constantly re-evaluating how they use their collections to best tell their stories, exhibit collections in a more day-to-day way, and better engage with their visitors. They have also been carrying out significant works to conserve the unique and vast collections of 18th and 19th century music, with this work including a partnership project with the University of Hull to perform and digitise pieces which the family would have collected and played in the mid-1800s.

This year’s judging panel includes Julie Montagu, Hatta Byng, Will Fisher, Will Richards, and Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE. They are on the look-out, not for the ‘best’ collection, but rather for the most compelling story of custodianship.

Over the summer, Julie Montagu visited Burton Constable Hall to learn more about their collection.

The winner of this year's award (which is sponsored annually by Dreweatts 1759) will be announced this November. Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we announce the shortlist!

The Historic Houses Collections Award 2024 | SHORTLIST ANNOUNCEMENT

The Manor, Hemingford Grey

Hemingford Grey Manor is a unique and historic home, recognized as the oldest continuously inhabited house in England, with origins stretching back 900 years to the Norman period. Lucy Boston purchased the Manor on May 31, 1939, and undertook extensive restoration to return it to its Norman roots. During World War II, she welcomed local airmen, providing a haven where they could relax and listen to gramophone music.

A skilled needleworker, Lucy began creating patchwork quilts. The collection at Hemingford Grey Manor consists of eleven patchworks made by Lucy Boston, between the years of 1939 and 1984. Each of the patchworks in the collection is shown to all members of the public on guided tours of the house. Rarely is such an important collection seen in the house in which they were made. The Lucy Boston Patchwork of the Crosses is now one of the top 10 best known patchworks worldwide.

This year’s judging panel includes Julie Montagu, Hatta Byng, Will Fisher, Will Richards, and Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE. They are on the look-out, not for the ‘best’ collection, but rather for the most compelling story of custodianship.

Over the summer, Julie Montagu, (also known as ) visited Hemingford Grey Manor to learn more about their collection.

The winner of this year's award (which is sponsored annually by Dreweatts 1759) will be announced this November. Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we announce the shortlist!

The Historic Houses Collections Award 2024 | SHORTLIST ANNOUNCEMENT

Deene Park

Deene Park is a stunning estate with over 600 years of history. Various families leased the property until it was acquired in 1514 by Sir Robert Brudenell (1461-1531) and has remained in the Brudenell family line ever since. At the heart of the collection at Deene Park is the Tresham-Brudenell library. The library of Sir Thomas Tresham (1543 1605) was one of the largest in England of its time and it is believed that a portion of the library residing at Deene Park may well have been a dowry from the Tresham family for his youngest daughter, Mary Tresham, who married Thomas Brudenell in 1605. The 2,000 books consist of the latest works on architecture, mathematics, astronomy and science, Catholic theology and devotion, and a wide range of works on history and literature. The books are written in Greek, Roman, German, French, Spanish, Italian and English. The care of the collection of books is paramount. Each day new discoveries and interpretations mean that the collection can be opened to wider audiences.

This year’s judging panel includes Julie Montagu, Hatta Byng, Will Fisher, Will Richards (Dreweatts 1759), and Dr Nicholas Cullinan OBE. They are on the look-out, not for the ‘best’ collection, but rather for the most compelling story of custodianship.

Over the summer, Julie Montagu visited Deene Park to learn more about their collection and the essential conservation work they do to safeguard it for the future.

The winner of this year's award (which is sponsored annually by Dreweatts 1759) will be announced this November. Stay tuned over the coming weeks as we announce the shortlist!