Letton Hall Conference Centre is fully open again after refurbishment works and raising more than £50,000 through a crowdfunding campaign.
One of the centre’s most distinctive features, the atrium-like lantern at the top of the stairwell, was found to be leaking and had to lifted off its lead base and reconstructed. It is now fully restored with a shining metal frame and new glass.
The Norfolk Wing of the centre has also been refurbished and is available to hire out separately as an Air B & B. When larger groups are in, it will also be used as an overflow from the main building.
“There has been a long heritage of Christian groups using this place,” said Centre Manager Jon Horrox. “They have been coming ever since Peter Carroll bought the Grade II listed building in 1979 to become a retreat centre. We have many groups coming from Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, and London, as well as some from Norfolk itself.
“People love the peaceful surroundings. Fortunately, the farmer is being paid to keep all the area around us as parkland.”
The centre received a massive boost through a crowdfunding JustGiving page which raised over £50,000. It was set up by the Peterborough-based Christian youth charity CROPS, which is one of its client groups. The centre also raised some £44,000 through a Culture Recovery Fund grant.
Jon has more plans to develop the centre, including the establishment of glamping units. He is also working with the well-known architect Ptolemy Dean OBE to consider major improvements which would bring the building closer back to its original Georgian design.
The centre has 73 beds in the main house, and nine in the Norfolk Wing. Apart from a couple of large family rooms, most rooms are one- or two bed. The nearby Stables has 54 beds, including two ten-bed dormitories and several three- or four-bed rooms.
You can find out more about Letton Hall on their website www.lettonhall.org
Pictured above are (top to bottom) the front of the hall, the lantern, the Norfolk Wing, the park and a bedroom in the main house
Eldred Willey, 05/08/2021
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