Wentworth: May 2016
Contents
Please note that this article contains information for a past event.
Keep an eye out for future Wentworth events.
Wentworth Castle, South Yorkshire
27th, 28th and 29th May 2016
We will be meeting for another weekend of workshops, writing and socialising at Northern College, Wentworth Castle, just off the M1 near Barnsley in South Yorkshire.
A workshop – May 2016
Information
- Dates: 27th—29th May 2016.
- Venue: Wentworth Castle, South Yorkshire. See below.
- Cost: £ 120 for two days, £ 150 for three days. See below.
Our rooms, all en-suite, are in the farmhouse and cottages at the rear of the Palladian Country House that was the home of the Earls of Strafford. The meeting place is in the Arched Barn, a lecture room at the centre of the residences and just across the yard from the garden café, shop and bar.
We have our meals in the grandeur of the big house with its magnificent library, marble columns and painted ceilings. The dining room looks out at some of the gardens and the 500 acre deer park with its hauntingly beautiful Fallow Deer.
The rolling lawns are overlooked by the Grecian temple and the recently restored conservatory, and away in the distance is the circular Roman Temple. The 60 acres of wild and formal gardens rise up the hill to the folly castle, where you can climb the tower and see for miles. Miles of rolling farmland with grazing sheep and cattle beyond the ha-ha.
Sounds idyllic? It is exactly that, as any dictionary will confirm. You will be part of a group of poets and authors small enough to make friends with everyone.
Some members of NAWG's committee will be with us and happy to discuss NAWG till the cows come home.
There has been a price rise this year but we hold the price down to a bare minimum, as the intention is not profit but pleasure, education and an opportunity to work on your project in the congenial company of fellow writers.
Prices ↑
The weekend is not intended to be a money making event and we charge as close as we can to our costs.
| Days | Description | Year / Cost | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2026 | ||
| Friday, Saturday, Sunday: | We feed ourselves on Friday with an evening pub meal. | 125 | 150 | 150 | 158 | 255 |
| Saturday & Sunday: | All in. B&B, evening meal, tea and coffee throughout the day. | 95 | 120 | 120 | 125 | |
The Venue ↑
Wentworth Buildings
Address
Northern College Wentworth Castle Stainborough Barnsley S75 3ET
About Wentworth Castle
Wentworth Castle is a palladian stately home built in the 1720s for Thomas Wentworth. It is out in the country about 4 miles from Barnsley in South Yorkshire and around 10 miles from Sheffield.
The first Earl of Strafford, Thomas Wentworth, made himself so unpopular with parliament that they passed a bill and had him beheaded, even though Charles I initially refused to sign the death warrant. He only signed it after Strafford wrote and asked him to sign it. In sacrificing himself Strafford hoped to prevent a civil war. He was executed on 12th May 1641. The English Civil War began when Charles left London in January 1642. It was the same parliament he fought against that had condemned Strafford.
Wentworth Gardens
Strafford's great nephew, Thomas Wentworth, also became the first Earl of Strafford, the title having died out in the C 17th. The earldom was revived for him by Queen Anne in 1711. He had inherited titles but not the Strafford estate, so he bought Stainborough Castle nearby and fashioned a very grand house out of it which he renamed Wentworth Castle. He put up an obelisk to Anne and put a proud Roman statue of himself in the castle he built at the top of the hill. The statue is now at the rear of the house and the house has become Northern College. It is located three miles from Barnsley in South Yorkshire.
NAWG holds its writers' retreat at Northern College.
The house has had much of its grandeur restored, the most recent restoration being the beautiful conservatory which was reopened last year. The gardens are lovely. There are 60 acres of garden set in idealised countryside designed in the manner of Capability Brown. The landscape is literally idyllic, being romantic, pastoral and incorporating a large deer park with beautiful fallow deer.
The grounds are fantastic . . . just the place to stroll between writing for inspiration.
There are more photographs from previous events.