Stately home's £5m funding bid for cascade repair
BBCA £5m bid has been lodged to plug a funding gap to restore a famous water feature at Chatsworth House.
The trust that runs the stately home and gardens in Derbyshire is facing a £7m bill to restore the 23-step cascade at the heart of the estate.
An application has now been submitted to the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) for further funding to restore the water feature.
The trust says it has also submitted a planning application to the Peak District National Park Authority for the repair work needed.
Chatsworth's head gardener Steve Porter said he had been regularly meeting representatives from NLHF to get help and advice about the fresh bid.
Mr Porter said: "What we want to do is find a solution so the cascade is safeguarded for the future."
The Grade I-listed structure suffered structural damage from water seeping into a tunnel below.
The trust has already received a £422,000 grant from the NLHF towards the project, and £100,000 has been raised through a public appeal to sponsor a stone in the cascade.
Rob Harrison, head of operations at Chatsworth, said a lot of work had gone into the funding bid.
He said: "The application has gone in which is great news, but we have got a lot of work in front of us."
He added if the bid was successful, then the work would start next spring and would take about 18 months.
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