Our latest appeal – help us renovate the Orchid House

The Orchid House at Helmsley Walled Garden is one of the original glasshouses that would have been part of this working garden at its inception in 1759.  It is a particularly beautiful building and overlooks the whole garden from its raised position at the south end of the colourful hot border.

The Orchid House was originally restored in 2003. When Alison Ticehurst first began to unearth the garden from years of neglect, it was a skeleton of the building we see today. However it now needs some urgent remedial attention to bring it back to a good standard of repair and allow us to continue to enjoy it in the future.

Much of the maintenance work in the garden over the years has been undertaken by our volunteers which has allowed us to use the Orchid House as both a display and a working area. But the time has come where we need a collaboration of professional craftsmen and women to undertake a radical overhaul. We are planning to commission joiners, painters and decorators to transform the Orchid House in the autumn as our summer visitors reduce and the garden becomes quieter.

In addition to a thorough overhaul of all the woodwork and glass, we are planning to create a new heating system that should enable us to return at least a small number of orchids to this elegant building, at least partially returning it to its original use.  Other repairs will include new blinds and a watering system that uses the existing under floor water storage tank.

We would love your support to help us do this. If you are able to donate, please visit our donate to our appeal page and click on the button.

As ever, thank you for all your support. It makes all the difference to us

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