Burnby Hall Heritage Centre moves a step closer thanks to National Lottery support

The vision to reunite Pocklington’s Burnby Hall building with the adjoining garden and visitor facilities took a step closer with confirmation that Burnby Hall Gardens & Stewarts Museum Trust has been granted £53,500 by the National Lottery Heritage Fund to support a feasibility study into the project.

The Gardens Trust first approached East Riding of Yorkshire Council in 2017 to discuss possibilities of taking over Burnby Hall and developing it into a community and heritage centre alongside the famous gardens.

The council, which currently uses the hall building as social work offices, agreed to consider a community asset transfer arrangement, subject to it being proved to be financially sustainable. Supported through The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the project will appoint heritage consultants to survey the building, consult with key individuals and organsations, and produce a detailed report and recommendations on the structure, management and viability of the project.

Paul Lee, chairman of the Burnby Hall Gardens and Stewarts Museum trustees, announced the award, saying: “This is really great news, but is just the first step along a long road. We have to prove that Burnby Hall can be a profitable facility, and the feasibility study is pivotal to demonstrating that.

“It would be brilliant to reunite Burnby Hall and the gardens. We believe the hall can be transformed into something really special for Pocklington, and become a focal point for community and visitor activities. It’s an ambitious plan that has already taken a lot of work and cooperation, which will need to continue if it is to become a reality.”

At the centre of the vision is creating a museum and heritage centre that would display the recent archaeological finds from Burnby Lane and The Mile. Another key aim is to make greater use of the current community hall on the end of the building, and develop it into an improved venue for conferences, weddings, meetings and functions.

In the first half of the 20th century Major and Mrs Stewart turned Burnby Hall and its grounds from a modest home on the edge of Pocklington into an impressive country house, garden and lakeland estate. After the Major’s death in 1962 the gardens were taken on by the Trust and developed into the popular attraction which current receives over 50,000 visitors a year. The house was bought by Pocklington Rural District Council and converted into its headquarters, before being inherited by subsequent unitary authorities.

Paul Lee went on: “We’ve had excellent support from East Riding council, and from David Wilson Homes and Persimmon Homes, who currently own the archaeological finds. The National Lottery Heritage Fund has now recognised the exciting possibilities of our project and we are determined to take it forward.”

The Gardens Trust has been working in conjunction with Phil Gilbank and the Pocklington Heritage Partnership for over a year to investigate keeping the Iron Age and Saxon discoveries in the town. The partnership wants to go further and create a heritage centre that tells the story of all eras of Pocklington, the surrounding villages and The Wolds for visitors and locals, including schoolchildren. To achieve this will require creating an accredited museum, capable of showcasing and preserving such internationally important artefacts.

It is hoped the feasibility study will be completed before the end of the year and will facilitate the next stage towards developing and funding the project.