Sandford Awards in 1988, 1993, 1998, 2003 and 2008. A fascinating museum of historic buildings spanning seven centuries, rescued from imminent destruction and carefully rebuilt timber by timber or brick by brick on a beautiful open-air site in the north of Worcestershire.
The Sandford Award is an independently judged, quality assured assessment of education programmes at heritage sites, museums, archives and collections across the British Isles.
More than 350 sites - including historic houses, museums, galleries, places of worship, gardens, landscapes and collections – have received an Award since the scheme began in 1978. They include Hampton Court Palace, Brunel’s ss Great Britain in Bristol, Fota Wildlife Park in Eire, Edinburgh Castle, and Big Pit - the National Mining Museum of Wales.
Audley End House
Sandford Award Winner in 2007. King Henry VIII gave Walden Abbey to Sir Thomas Audley, who transformed it into his mansion, Audley End. Despite ups and downs in its fortunes, Audley End remains one of England’s grandest country homes with over 30 lavishly decorated rooms.
Attingham Park
Sandford Award Winner in 2002 and 2007. Attingham Park, built in 1785 to the design of George Steuart with alterations by John Nash, was in continuous ownership by eight generations of the Berwick family and exemplifies the changing fortunes of the English country-house estate.
Aston Hall
Aston Hall is situated near the M6 to the north of Birmingham centre and won Sandford Awards in 1993, 1998, 2003. One of England’s finest Jacobean mansion houses. Aston Hall still bears the scars of the English Civil War and is surrounded by 50-acres of beautiful parks and gardens.
Apsley House
A Sandford Award Winner in 2009. Apsley House, home of the first Duke of Wellington and his descendants, stands right in the heart of London at Hyde Park Corner. For over 200 years, this great metropolitan mansion has been known colloquially as ‘Number 1 London’, because it was the first house encountered after passing the […]