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About Highgreen

Highgreen Manor, a Grade 2 listed building , is a Scottish baronial extravaganza built in 1894 for Charles William Bell, a Durham mine owner. The architect was W.J. Ancell of Clifford Inn in London. There has been a house on the site since at least the mid-18th century when coal and lead were mined nearby.

The Manor is at the centre of an estate that extends over 5000 acres of wild, open moorland. Farming remains the principal activity in the area and the estate has 3 separate farming enterprises. Due to the altitude and exposed situation the land is only really suited for raising hardier breeds of sheep and cattle.

Landscape conservation is also becoming an increasingly important part of farming operations. All the farms at Highgreen are in Environmental Stewardship Schemes. A major woodland planting initiative is also in hand to provide habitat for the native black grouse whose numbers are rapidly declining.

Around the Manor are houses and outbuildings that used to serve the home farm. The old farm workers are long since gone and their houses are now homes for families for whom the hectic bustle of town life holds no attraction.

And gradually we are restoring the old farm buildings so that we can house new enterprises at Highgreen. Since 2000 we have been home to VARC which funds a yearly residency for visual artists as well special arts projects involving the local community.

 

 

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28 Batoum Gardens, London, W6 7QD. Tel: 0207 602 1363. e-mail: highgreenarts@aol.com    Photography © Suzie Maeder