The Knebworth House Education and Preservation Trust (KHEPT) charity this week celebrates its 40th Anniversary. Since its creation in May 1984, the charity has worked tirelessly to preserve, restore, interpret and provide access to Knebworth House and Gardens. It’s nine volunteer Trustees are immensely proud of the progress that has been made during that time.
Trustee Edward Lytton Cobbold points to the new exhibition of Knebworth House’s use as a Film Location, which list chronologically all the 90 films that have been made at the Historic House since 1956, “in the early ones Knebworth House tended to play run-down old ruins and forgotten gothic castles. In the more recent one the house has been playing home to royalty and oligarchs. As custodians of Knebworth House we must be doing something right. Our restoration program has clearly made progress.”
The Trust is a non-profit charity whose sole purpose is to preserve and maintain the House for the benefit of the public. In the mid-20th century Knebworth House was in a poor state of repair after two World Wars, the depression and taxes had taken their toll. Family chattels were sold to pay for emergency repairs, but this was unsustainable in the long term. The task was simply too large. In 1984 David Lytton Cobbold came up with the idea of creating KHEPT. With the support of the local authorities, the Lytton Cobbold family was able to raise an endowment that it gifted, along with a long lease of the House & Gardens, to the Charitable Trust.
In the years that have followed the charity has made a major contribution to urgent repairs and the general restoration of the House and Gardens. It has also made the House and Gardens available for use for Educational visits. Despite good progress, in 2012 Knebworth House was designated by English Heritage as a ‘Priority Building at Risk’. As repair costs rise and resources continue to diminish, saving Knebworth House is a battle against time.
The Trust has four phases left of a ten-phase programme of essential repairs to the structure of Knebworth House. Costs to complete the essential repairs needed are currently estimated at £14 million. The Trust needs to secure an endowment beyond this figure to continue the preservation of Knebworth House into the future. Historic England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Historic Houses Foundation are among the bodies to have awarded generous grants to the Trust to assist with the cost of works.
The charities 40 years of restoration highlights include:
1990 – Banqueting Hall
During extensive works combating dry rot within the walls and stabilising the structure of the Banqueting Hall roof, a 17th century wall painting and an 18th century shoe were discovered.
1990 – 2013 – Eastern Courtyard and Balustrades
December 2013 saw the end of a multiple-year project to make safe and restore the Eastern Steps, Gate Pillars, Balustrades and Beasts at the entrance to the courtyard of the house. This not only improved access but increased film location work opportunities raising much needed restoration revenue.
2015 – Central West Elevation
The works involved rebuilding the unstable roof and parapet down to the bottom of the decorative frieze on the central west elevation and refurbishing the two adjacent copper turrets. The work was carried out using traditional methods and materials, and has reduced water ingress into the building.
2018 – 2020 – Watchman’s Tower
The Victorian Watchman’s Tower became accessible to the public for the first time in 2020 after a two-year project to restore the tower, build a new staircase (using Estate Oak and upcycled Estate fencing) and initiating new educational programmes in the local area.
2021 – North West Corner
Climate change with an extremely hot Summer and cold Winter caused extensive movement of the North West Tower, creating destabilising cracks through the building, windows and stonework. Urgent work was required to underpin the north-west corner of the House and undertake associated repairs to windows, masonry and loose stucco enabling continued public access.
The Charity are proud to offer eleven different educational visits for schools and home-educated students and four different talks for adult groups. The educational visits for young people cover areas from the National Curriculum ranging from History to English to Science, with a focus on providing hands-on inclusive learning opportunities and using the inside and outside of this fantastic setting to inspire learners. The Archives team host researchers and answer enquiries from all over the world as well as providing talks both on- and off-site for adult groups. Education is one of the key purposes of the charitable trust and the trustees are keen supporters of the education programme. The Trust is proud to have held the Sandford Award continuously since 2001. The Sandford Award is an independently judged award for quality heritage education.
Chairman, Bob Rutter commented:
“As the Knebworth House Education and Preservation Trust looks to the future, our visitors’ support will help us to continue with our programme of building restoration works, the conservation of objects within the House, the care of the Gardens, the provision of our award-winning education programmes, our talks to adult groups and the support the archive provides to researchers. The Trust has achieved a considerable amount over the last 40 years, but more support is required to continue with this valuable work. We thank you for the support you have given by visiting today and hope that you will continue to support the Trust into the future.”
Donations to commemorate this milestone can be made via Just Giving here – https://knebworthhouse.com/khept/
