St. Mary’s House & Gardens wins a prestigious national award, recognising it as one of the nation’s finest heritage venues

The well-known Hudson’s Directory of Historic Houses, Castles and Gardens brought in the scheme last year to highlight distinguished achievements in the leisure heritage industry and to help promote tourism in Britain.

The twelve categories included ‘Best Education/Community programme’ - winner Burghley House, ‘Best Garden’ – winner Exbury Gardens, ‘Best Art Collection’ – winner Compton Verney, and ‘Best Corporate Venue’ – winner Farnham Castle. St. Mary’s House & Gardens was voted winner for ‘Best Renovation’.

For over quarter of a century, owners Peter Thorogood and Roger Linton have laboured to bring about a spectacular restoration of the beautiful medieval house and its gardens. Thousands of visitors over the years have enjoyed the ancient atmosphere of tranquillity and peace, and have received a warm welcome from its knowledgeable guides and volunteers.

Having acquired the house in 1984, when it was in a serious state of dereliction and the gardens a veritable wasteland, it was the vision and zeal of Peter and Roger to save the building from closure and bring it back into its present pristine state for the benefit of the public, helped by a loyal group of Friends and a valiant band of volunteers. Peter and Roger, who have family links with the house from the early 1800s, have succeeded in bringing back the lost Victorian gardens, with the rose garden, terracotta garden and poetry garden. Their achievement was officially recognised in 2006 when they each received the MBE from Prince Charles in the Queen’s 80^th Birthday Honours.

The Hudson Heritage Award for Restoration is a fitting tribute to their courage and endurance in bringing back to life one of the finest buildings of our national heritage, described by Sir Simon Jenkins in his book England’s Thousand Best Houses as ‘a shrine to medieval Sussex’. But St. Mary’s is much more than that. It is a living monument to a long historical tradition which the Hudson Heritage Award confirms.