We are looking at the Hall in terms of three sections. The worst part of the house is the Victorian wing or service wing which has badly deteriorated over the last twenty five years. The restoration of this wing will be dependent on obtaining future funding.
The central section of the house is what has been known by the family as the General’s Quarters but is effectively the West Wing and a part of the Northern range. This will be turned into a ten bedroomed holiday let in the style of a Landmark Trust property. The final section of the Hall which encompasses the East Wing and the main reception rooms (Great Hall, Drawing Room and Library) will be lived in by the family and will be the main focus of the pre booked guided restoration tours.
Within the grounds of the Hall are a number of other buildings such as the Orangery and the Tree House. The Orangery has been empty for about twenty years and like all the buildings at Pitchford has consequently suffered. It is currently derelict and will need over £100,000 spent on it to make it habitable. The history of the Orangery is fascinating in that it was originally a glass house but was converted in the 1930s to create a home for the infamous British eccentric – Lady Sybil Grant. Lady Sybil did not like living at the Hall because of the sound of running water and the ghosts so moved into the Orangery and also the Tree House. We would like to take the clock back and create the type of home that Lady Sybil would be familiar with perhaps including a few eccentricities. The Orangery sits within a walled garden and we would seek to restore the garden too with fruit trees, vegetables and flowers.
The Stable Yard and the Dovecot currently consists of three long term rental properties and stables but over time we hope to create either work or livings spaces in the stables and possibly a café. Ideally if some of the stables were converted we would let them out to craftsmen and rural start up companies thereby supporting the local economy.
At the moment we have a relatively blank canvass and are open to ideas on what would work best in a place like Pitchford.
Finally we would like to use Pitchford for events. A house as beautiful as Pitchford Hall could become an excellent venue for events such as weddings, festivals, theatre, music, poetry and even reenactments. Once again we would love to hear your ideas as to what else would work well at Pitchford.