Britain’s stately homes struggle to survive with Covid restrictions

BURY ST EDMUNDS: The sprawling redbrick ouse and grounds of Kentwell Hall, built up in the time when the Tudors ruled England, have, like so many of Britain’s stately homes, face an existential threat during the pandemic.

The turreted house near Bury St Edmunds in eastern England has survived over 450 years of tumultuous history but is in need of critical repairs it cannot afford after closing its doors to visitors at the start of the outbreak.

In the face of mounting financial woes, owners of historic houses like Patrick Phillips, who bought Kentwell in 1971, are calling on the government to allow them to reopen faster. The former senior lawyer, who has been restoring the house for decades said he has had to “cut back everything to the bone” after its £1.5-million ($2-million, 1.75-million-euro) turnover in 2019 fell by 90 percent in 2020.

“It is hugely, hugely burdensome for us to try and operate this place without income,” he told AFP. Most of the money generated came from events and visitors. But lack of funds in the last 12 months has meant halting critical work to an 800-yard (metres) moat around the house.

Phillips said trying to repair the moat, which has collapsed at a sensitive point, was “an absolute disaster” without access to funds. “This particular section supports an early building, a 15th-century building,” he said. “But until we can get in and look at it, we don’t know how serious it is.”

The stately home owner was unequivocal in his criticism of the government’s plans to reopen the economy and said they were “following the wrong track”. He compared stately homes to businesses in the hospitality industry and said “we are all suffering unnecessarily”.

The British government unveiled in February what Prime Minister Boris Johnson characterised as a “cautious but irreversible” plan to exit a third national lockdown.

However, stately homes as well and other sectors are demanding answers as to why they have to wait until May to open parts of their businesses and until June to reopen entirely when non-essential retail is scheduled to reopen on April 12.