The Georgian Wing
The West Wing on September 6th 2005
The Georgian West Wing had suffered least from the neglect of
the years from 1966 to 1977.
In September 1977
When the Hall was first visited by the group which formed the
Trust there was still glass in some of the windows and the roof was
quite good. The window frames were rotten and the first task in
October 1980 as soon as the Trust was formed was to strip out and
replace the windows.
In 1977 the interior of the Georgian Wing was in a bad condition
but some of the plaster mouldings were still good as shown in the
Library. The Ballroom and the Bookroom were in very poor shape when
work startd in 1980.The South Dining Room retained an impressive
moulding but was otherwise in very poor condition.
Bookroom
South
Dining Room
Early structural work was carried out by the contractors
Sapcotes whose first action was to pour concrete to form the ground
floor of the wing, and the work progressed, more slowly mainly
through the efforts of volunteers for several years. The plastering
of the South Dining Room is shown in October 1982.
The restoration of the West Wing was carried out first for two
reasons. It was, being the most modern of the buildings, the
easiest to do but more importantly it created a capacity that the
Trust could use for events and functions.
It was not until 1988 that there was sufficient useful space for
the workers to start enjoying the place. A milestone often recalled
by the volunteers and members who supported the Trust in its early
days was a Victorian evening. This was
the first use of the Hall for a social occasion and was followed by
many more. The first May Day event in 1988 used the as yet
unrestored Great Hall 
The rooms in the Georgian Wing together with the Great Hall
continue to be the major income generating resource for the Trust
having been restored to their elegant
best
In 1989 the West Wing and West Lawn were in full swing, as well
as the Great Hall.
Middleton's favourite jazzman, George Huxley, was in
concert in the Ballroom in 1990 and has been a regular at events at
the Hall ever since.
