Wynyard Hall’s £1.6m tourist attraction nears completion

The visitor centre will be the gateway to The Gardens at Wynyard Hall.

The new attraction is a £1.6million garden planted with 3,000 roses, within the hotel’s grounds, and is due to open to the public on August 4.

And the £1million building looks set to become an attraction in its own right.

The Walled Garden at Wynyard Hall was originally built more than a century ago for Theresa, Lady Londonderry and a section of the Grade II listed walls has been incorporated into the glass and steel design of the new visitor centre.

Chris Cant, managing director of Newcastle-based Metnor Construction which was the main contractor for the build, said: “The juxtaposition of the old walls and the contemporary visitor centre really works. The listing and the age of the walls threw up some minor challenges, but the result is phenomenal.”

The visitor centre will be the main approach to The Gardens and will also house a café and farm shop.

The interior wall which overlooks the garden is almost entirely glazed with French windows, providing panoramic views of the garden itself and work has now begun fitting out the building in preparation for the opening in August.

Tickets have already gone on sale for the official opening when Sir John Hall and the UK’s leading rose expert Michael Marriott will cut the ribbon and declare the Walled Garden open.

There will then be a week long programme of family-based entertainment and live music along with the chance to look at excerpts from an album created by Theresa, Lady Londonderry, about the Walled Garden at Wynyard.

The Walled Garden is the second stage in a £5.3million rolling programme of work to create The Gardens at Wynyard Hall – which will eventually cover four acres and be one of the largest rose gardens in the UK.