Estate opens after £15.2m revamp

The estate contains 26 listed buildings and monuments

The Wentworth Castle estate near Barnsley opens its doors to the public on Thursday after a £15.2m restoration.

The Wentworth Castle Trust is in the process of restoring the estate's 26 listed buildings, gardens and 600 acres of parkland.

The initial phase of the project is now complete and visitors can explore the estate's 50-acre garden in full for the first time.

Work will now begin on a £5m overhaul of the Victorian Conservatory.

Wentworth Castle featured on the BBC's Restoration series and was described by presenter Griff Rhys Jones as "one of the nation's most sublime parkland estates".

New facilities include a "dramatic" viewing platform at the top of the castle folly and a new two-mile Monument Trail.

The trust said rare formal gardens had been discovered during the first phase of the restoration, the National Collections of magnolias, rhododendrons and camellias had been enhanced and more than 100,000 bulbs planted.