Press Centre
For any PR enquiries relating to the family, the Estate and its related businesses, or to obtain high-resolution images of Holkham, please contact Mary Rudd or Arabella Brodie at Mary Rudd PR:
Mary Rudd PR
mary.ruddpr@btinternet.com
Tel: 01362 821415
Latest News
18th October 2007: Holkham Website Wins Regional Tourism Award
THE Holkham website scooped a top regional award at a prestigious tourism awards ceremony held at The West Wing, Ickworth House, near Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
The Enjoy England Awards for Excellence are recognised as the premier awards for the tourism industry and www.holkham.co.uk won the 'Tourism Website of the Year' category.
These Regional awards, covering the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, highlight the quality of the tourism industry in the eastern region and give a tremendous boost to participants.
As regional winners, Holkham's entry will automatically be entered for the national awards, to be presented in April 2008.
October 2007: Holkham enters eBay Auction
IN early October Holkham Hall took part in an exciting new initiative called 'TopLots' - an eBay auction in which various UK museums, galleries and heritage attractions went online offering a vast range of unique auction lots.
200 lots were put forward with items on line for the highest bids, which ranged from behind the scenes visits, to exclusive offers, not available at any other time. This has been the first auction of its kind and for Holkham, a rather unusual way of raising funds for the ongoing heritage work carried out at the Hall every year.
Lord Coke put forward two packages; a lifetime pass for two people to visit the Hall, park and gardens and a personal tour for four people around the Hall, followed by lunch in the impressive North State Dining Room. He commented “This is a very new venture and a rather unusual way of raising funds for the ongoing heritage work we carry out at the Hall every year, whether it is restoration work or routine care of the paintings, china or statues. We hope people will visit the site and help to support the museums, historic houses and heritage properties which are all taking part in the auction.” Both offers attracted successful bids.
2nd July 2007: Holkham Wins Royal Agricultural Society of England Award
AT the Royal Show charity auction dinner, Her Royal Highness The Countess of Wessex, President of the Royal Agricultural Society, presented Lord Leicester with the Royal Agricultural Society's Bledisloe Gold Medal.
This prestigious annual award is made to a landowner who has shown outstanding achievement in the successful land management and development of an agricultural estate in England. The judging process in particular looked for landowners who have:
Demonstrated excellent land management and farming practice
Developed alternative sources of income
Created benefit to the local community, the environment or for the wider public good
This national award recognises Lord Leicester’s and Lord Coke’s outstanding efforts and initiatives to constantly develop the Estate’s business. Judges paid tribute to the Estate’s management, acknowledging that in all its operations, it aims to be both socially responsible and profitable. They further stated that farming practices on the Estate were innovative and at a very high standard.
RASE chairman of the awards committee, Humphrey Salwey, said: “Holkham is a privately-owned traditional estate that has not been afraid to encompass change. Lord Leicester has taken full advantage of opportunities to develop his premier estate and the RASE is proud to reward his achievements.”
Seventy per cent of income now comes from diversification projects on the Estate which include a holiday park, car parks, hotel, pub, linseed paint division and building company. The Estate is a major employer in the area and has a policy of providing affordable local housing. All but three of Holkham’s 325 houses are let to local people, key workers and employees. A new waste water treatment plant and use of green fuels, such as bio-diesel mix, have helped the Estate achieve sustainability.
17th November 2006: Good News For North Norfolk Holiday Park
A NORTH Norfolk holiday park has been commended from different organisations for the quality of its facilities and its conservation work.
Pinewoods Holiday Park gained a gold award for the sixth consecutive year in the David Bellamy Conservation Award Scheme, which was issued at a presentation organised by the British Holiday and Home Parks Association.
The Tourist Board awarded four stars to the park with an outstanding 100% given to the on-site cafeteria. Assessors commented on the good ambience at the park and graded the layout and spacing of the pitches highly. Good scores were also awarded for recreational, sporting and leisure facilities available to visitors.
The park has also been listed in Jonathan Knight's Cool Camping guide, which is described as 'the definitive guide to the most exceptional campsites and camping experiences in England'.
Pinewoods, which attracts around 30,000 visitors a year, has been transformed since its transfer back to Holkham Estate management in 1996 with a policy of continuous conservation and enhancement.
Richard Seabrooke, manager at Pinewoods, said: "We have an ongoing plan for continuous improvement in every aspect of the business and it is good for all the team here that this work is recognised in this way."
October 2006: Ken Clarke MP Opens Nature Trail at Holkham Hall
KEEN birdwatcher and former Tory chancellor, the Rt Hon Kenneth Clarke MP, opened a Nature Trail in Holkham Park on Friday 6th October.
The 28-stop Nature Trail, which follows a scenic route around Holkham's 35-acre lake, has been designed to help both children and adults learn more about the wildlife around them.
Devised by the Estate's head gamekeeper, Simon Lester, the trail helps to identify the richly varied flora and fauna that people can see when visiting the Earl of Leicester's historic Deer Park, near Wells-next-the-Sea.
The Park, which has been open to the public since the Palladian Holkham Hall was built in the early 18th century, is home to a herd of fallow deer and many other species of wildlife. Visitors are likely to spot kingfishers and great crested grebes on the lake, as well as colourful dragonflies and lesser-spotted woodpeckers.
In addition, nesting boxes and feeding stations have been put up in the trees near to each stop on the trail, so that people can get a good view of the birds that live in the surrounding woodland. Earlier this year, 56 young blue tits that had hatched in the boxes were carefully ringed so that the estate can keep an eye on their progress.
The Estate hopes that both local people and visitors alike, who have free, permissive access to the Park, 364 days of the year (except Christmas Day), will take the opportunity to complete the trail and its optional quiz.
July 2005: Holkham Hall Stonework Repairs
WORK has got underway to repair the north elevation of Holkham Hall, the 18th century Palladian home of the Earl of Leicester, in the first major repairs to be made to the stonework since the 1840s.
The Estate is spending more than £60,000 on the work, which is being carried out by Mowlem PLC and is expected take approximately two months to complete.
It was originally thought that no repairs had been carried out to the exterior of the Hall since building work was completed in 1764.
However, Holkham's archivist, Christine Hiskey, has recently discovered that the second Earl of Leicester commissioned extensive repair work from 1845-46.
The estimate for the labour costs back then was £12,000 and Watson's stonemasons of Norwich were employed to carry out the work.
April 2005: Holkham Wins National Award
HOLKHAM has won a prestigious gold award as 'best small visitor attraction of the year' in a national tourism competition.
The 18th Century stately home on the north Norfolk coast won the award at the Enjoy England Excellence awards in London.
Comedienne, Sandi Toksvig, who compared the awards, and Director General of the Caravan Club, Trevor Watson, presented the accolade to Holkham's Marketing Manager, Laurane Herrieven, and PR Advisor, Paula Minchin, at a glittering ceremony at the British Museum in April
After winning the regional heat of the category at the East of England Tourist Board awards in the autumn of 2004, Holkham was selected as a finalist for the national awards, which are run by Visit Britain and known as the tourism 'Oscars'.
Sandy Toksvig said that Holkham won its category because of the investment that the privately owned estate makes into the outstanding quality of its tourist attractions, which include the Palladian Hall, the Deer Park, the Bygones Museum and the History of Farming Exhibition.
The judges were impressed by the fact that Holkham consistently strives to improve its facilities. In particular, they recognised the major effort Holkham has taken to enhance the visitor experience, with the relocation of the History of Farming Exhibition, the refurbishment of The Ancient House Gift Shop and Gallery, and improved disabled access. The judging panel also applauded Holkham's high standards of customer service, staff training and marketing initiatives.
Holkham beat two other finalists, including Painshill Park in Surrey, which won silver and the National Trust owned Workhouse in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, which took bronze.
Nick Cust, Awards Judge and Board Member of the England Marketing Advisory Board, said, "Holkham Hall is a gem that should become a large visitor attraction based on the quality of this day out."
"I was extremely honoured to accept this award on behalf of the Earl of Leicester and Holkham, especially as it recognises the great effort made by everyone here to ensure that Holkham is memorable day out for all our visitors," commented Laurane Herrieven, Holkham Marketing Manager.
July 2004: Improved Disabled Access in Holkham Hall
AN innovative new stair lift has given many wheelchair users access to the first floor staterooms at Holkham Hall on the north Norfolk coast, for the first time in its 300-year history.
Ever since the Palladian home of the Earl of Leicester became open to the public in the 1950s, the wide staircase leading from the impressive Marble Hall up to the first floor rooms meant that many disabled visitors simply did not get to see those state rooms.
Now, thanks to the purchase of a Jolly Stairclimber, most types of manual wheelchair user can be transported up the steps, so that disabled visitors can also enjoy the splendour of the Statue Gallery and the opulence of the Saloon, complete with its Rubens and van Dyck.
Disabled access has been further enhanced by a new all-weather metal ramp at the main entrance to the Hall, which is at the right gradient for all wheelchair users. The Estate has invested more than £12,000 in these improvements, as part of a greater commitment to its disabled visitors.
Michael Daley, Administrator at the Hall said, "It has always been a matter of regret that we've been unable to provide access to the first floor of the house for our many disabled visitors. Despite all our best efforts and investigations by specialist firms and structural engineers, it was not possible to install a stair lift anywhere in the Grade I listed property.
Earlier this year, Lord Leicester asked the Historic Houses' Association's Disabled Access Adviser to come and assess us here at Holkham, and, following her advice, we were able to test and then purchase a Jolly Stairclimber.
"Basically, it works like a mini-tank climbing up the stairs. It's a self-propelled mechanism, which climbs using rubber tracks. The visitor's wheelchair is attached securely to the machine, they are strapped in with a safety belt and up they go," he says.
Many visitors to the house have commented on the new machine, including one lady from Cromer who wrote in the visitors' book, "Wheelchair access up the stairs is so appreciated." And another from King's Lynn, who wrote, "The house is very interesting and there's a useful stairlift for those in wheelchairs - don't be afraid to use it."
Hall staff are also able to provide a Braille introduction sheet about Holkham for blind visitors and a similar sheet in large print for those who are partially sight.
