SNN111946 - Apethorpe Hall: St John's School and Community Home: Historic Building Report

Apethorpe Hall is a Grade 1 listed country house which has stood empty since the early 1980s. Following the issue of several urgent works notices, the house was subject to a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) in 2004. It was handed over, by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), to English Heritage, which has assumed responsibility for instituting a phased programme of repairs and, ultimately, aims to secure a viable future for the property. Throughout 2005-08, the English Heritage Apethorpe Hall Research Project Team has undertaken extensive research and analysis of the house, gardens and surrounding landscape. This has involved historians, architectural historians and archaeologists from within English Heritage, working closely with a number of outside specialists. Aspects of this work have informed the conservation programme, and will continue to do so for years to come. This report aims to document the most recent phase of the building’s use, as an approved school and community college. The research presented here clarifies understanding of the architectural additions and alterations made to this historic building by the school between 1949 and 1982.