AN HISTORIC house in Dorset which was left abandoned and derelict for 50 years has won an award for its restoration work.

St Giles House is the ancestral seat of the Earls of Shaftesbury and has been announced as the winner of the 2015 Historic Houses Association (HHA) and Sotheby’s Restoration Award.

The house, which has remained in the family since the 14th-century, had been left abandoned and derelict for over 50 years. It has now been transformed through a restoration project undertaken by the 12th Earl and Countess of Shaftsbury over the past four and a half years.

Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621-1683), a founder of the Whig party, built the earliest part of the house in 1650.

Uninhabited for the later part of the 20thcentury, the house fell in to disrepair and by 2002 the condition had become critical with sections of the house at risk from collapse.

Only a few years ago snow was blowing into the library and the 18th-century grotto was in an extremely fragile condition with trees growing through the walls.

With the help of grants from Natural England and the Country Houses Foundation, parkland buildings and the house’s grand interiors have once again been returned to their former glory.

The Earl inherited the Grade I listed house, which sits on a 5,000-acre estate, in 2005, aged only 25.

He said: “It is a huge honour to receive this award after four and a half years of hard work. It’s amazing now to look back at the project and think where we’ve come - it’s safe to say we’ve achieved far more than any of us imagined possible. "Hopefully it will inspire others to do the same.”

Harry Dalmeny, Sotheby’s Chairman, UK Private Clients said the restoration was a ‘remarkable feat.’

He said: “The Earl and Countess of Shaftesbury have reawakened one of Britain’s great houses. This remarkable feat, achieved in such a short space of time, has not only preserved one of our architectural gems but also created a home fit for family life.”

Richard Compton, President of the Historic Houses Association, said the restoration work had secured the building for the future.

He said: “The judges had a huge task deciding which project to award the principal prize to, but were unanimous that it should go to St Giles House.

“Here Nick Shaftesbury has demonstrated extraordinary drive and imagination in bringing his family home back to life, by restoring long empty rooms, and the structure as a whole.

“I believe that St Giles now faces a certain and hopeful future as it now begins to welcome visitors and special events and the opportunity to play an important part in local affairs again. I am also particularly glad that the judges were able to commend three other very worthwhile and important projects.”

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