Salford’s Ordsall Hall has recently beaten the Tower of London and Althorpe Hall in the race for top prize at the Royal Institute for Chartered Surveyors Awards.
The Tudor mansion is a gem in the heart of Salford, and over the last 2 years it has seen a £6.5 million refurbishment, largely aided by the Lottery Heritage Fund. Repairs included work on the stained glass windows, roof, woodwork around the house and stoneware, and judges commented on the particularly high standard of refurbishment carried out around the period house. Gardens have also had a new lease of life breathed into them by being organised into different themes that reflect changing periods in the hall’s life.
The hall is now attracting more than double the visitors that it did before, especially local residents who had previously never visited the hall. Having just celebrated its 500th birthday, and now seeing over 35,000 people through the doors each year, Ordsall Hall are planning many special events for the future.
It is a great achievement for a historical building in Salford to win such a prestigious prize, and particularly to beat places such as the Tower of London and Althorpe Hall, which was Princess Diana’s family home. It is now, more than ever, a point of interest in Salford that the community are especially proud of, and will surely go from strength to strength in the coming years!
This beautiful image is from larosecarmine's photostream on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/larosecarmine/7886822572/
