The new space will also provide opportunities for visitors to engage with Harewood’s history, including its connections to the transatlantic trade in enslaved individuals. Harewood House Trust has been actively researching, acknowledging and interpreting this history for more than 30 years but the new visitor centre will finally provide a space where Harewood’s history can be shared with all visitors. A new role of Curator of Community Voices will be funded by this grant to ensure that this interpretation is developed in close consultation with local communities, including descendant communities.
The Bakehouse project forms the first phase of the wider Reimagining Harewood programme, which also includes ambitious plans to restore and reimagine Harewood’s gardens and landscape. In 2023, Harewood worked with The Landscape Agency and award-winning garden designer and broadcaster Matthew Wilson to develop proposals for the South Garden and surrounding landscape.
The development of the gardens aims to create more inclusive, environmentally resilient and engaging spaces, while helping visitors better understand Harewood’s heritage and its role within the wider Harewood Estate.
We are delighted to have received this support thanks to National Lottery players. This investment marks an important next step in our long-term vision for Reimagining Harewood. Entering the development phase allows us to undertake essential surveys, planning and community consultation work, ensuring that the project is shaped with input from local communities and key stakeholders. The development phase will run for approximately 18 months, during which we will continue to refine plans and secure additional funding for this transformational project, with the aim of a full completion by 2030, marking 7 years in the making."
Rachel Crewes - CEO of Harewood House Trust
We’re delighted to support Harewood House with this initial grant to work towards a strong and resilient future for this significant site, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players. It is fantastic news that Harewood House Trust can now further develop their plans to transform the Bakehouse into a new visitor centre to celebrate the important heritage of the site and improve access for all.”
Helen Featherstone - Director, England, North at The National Lottery Heritage Fund
About The National Lottery Heritage Fund
Our vision is for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future. That’s why as the largest funder for the UK’s heritage we are dedicated to supporting projects that connect people and communities to heritage, as set out in our strategic plan, Heritage 2033. Heritage can be anything from the past that people value and want to pass on to future generations. We believe in the power of heritage to ignite the imagination, offer joy and inspiration, and to build pride in place and connection to the past.
Over the next 10 years, we aim to invest £3.6billion raised for good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities. http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/
Please follow and tag @HeritageFundUK on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube and use the hashtags #HeritageFund #NationalLottery
Become a Patron
Bakehouse Benefactor
Help us transform the Bakehouse into a vibrant hub for connection, culture, and conversation. Your support as a Benefactor preserves this stunning Grade II gem, shares Harewood’s story, and helps confront the legacy of the Transatlantic trade of enslaved people in Britain today
