Fact, Or Facade? Wentworth Woodhouse set out to discover if it has the UK's longest facade

Wentworth Woodhouse in Rotherham is known worldwide as the country house with the biggest facade in the UK.

But is it fact - or just one of the many myths that still surround the Grade I listed stately home, which fell into decline in the 20th century?

The Preservation Trust, which took on its regeneration in 2017, had heard that two other magnificent houses believed they have claim to the title.

Hopetoun House in Queensferry, widely considered to be Scotland’s finest stately home and still lived in by members of the Hope Family which built it in the 1600s, has long thought its West Front Facade is 675 feet long.

It had even received what could be seen as the ultimate validation back in 1985 - an entry for the UK's longest facade in the Guinness Book of Records.

Meanwhile, urban legend had described 400-room architectural masterpiece Stowe House in Buckinghamshire as having the longest facade in the country. Though whether this was its South Facade, or its equally spectacular North Facade, and whether an array of adjoining buildings could be counted, no one knew.

If either Hopetoun or Stowe was correct, where did that leave Wentworth Woodhouse? Its East Front Palladian facade, which contains its State Rooms, a bachelor wing and service wing, was thought to total 606 feet.

Though the rivalry was genteel and no ‘battle of the stately homes’ was about to break out, Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust decided it was time to discover whether its really did have the right to the title - and the Fact Or Facade project was launched.

As no definitive measurements comparing all three country houses had ever been made, the Trust called in help from Historic England, Historic Environment Scotland and conservation architect Tony Barton, chairman of Donald Insall Associates, the nationwide architectural practice currently on its third major project at Wentworth Woodhouse. Tony was to walk each building’s facade with a surveyor’s trundle wheel.

It also summoned its volunteer Digital Team, which has been checking out the accuracy of alleged Wentworth Woodhouse facts for the Trust’s YouTube channel.

Its video crew would record the process and produce a series explaining why each house was built on such a grand scale, and how they had survived and prospered while over 2,000 country houses were lost during changes to 20th century Britain’s economic, social and political landscape.

But before Tony could get to work, there was an important issue. What, exactly, was he going to measure?

Said Tony: “I thought it would be a simple task of trundling along the three buildings and giving an answer, but it was not that simple.

“Hopetoun, Stowe and Wentworth are two-faced; they don’t have a back door, they each have two front doors.

“I had to set some rules. Firstly, I settled on the definition of a Principal Facade as the structure designed to be the house’s main face. Then I decided which of Stowe’s Wentworth’s and Hopetoun’s fronts was, in my opinion, the Principal Facade - and then decided whether all the elements in them could be counted as the’ principal face’.

“It was a long and complicated process to say the least. Wentworth Woodhouse is definitely the country house with the longest Principal Facade - and what’s more, by my measurements it’s actually 12 feet longer than the Trust thought it was, coming in at 618 feet.

“But by my reckoning, the other two houses have important titles of their own. Hopetoun has what I have decided is the longest garden frontage at 657 feet (this included some garden walls, so they are not classed as part of a facade).

Stowe, in my opinion, is the longest building at 638 feet, but this includes outbuildings at either end, which again are not part of the principal designed face of the building.

“Fact Or Facade has given me the joy and privilege of getting to know these three wonderful buildings a little better. Everyone should make the effort to visit them and support the amazing people looking after such historically important buildings, so they continue to thrive.

Sarah McLeod, CEO of Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust commented: “We are delighted, and very proud, to learn that Wentworth Woodhouse still holds the title for the longest Principal Facade in the UK - and is actually 12 feet longer than we thought!

“But we are even prouder that, while the Fact Or Facade project may have started out as gentle rivalry, it has brought three of the country’s grandest stately homes together.

“We’ve learned so much about each other during this process and will be supporting each other as we protect our historically important buildings so they can continue to exist and ‘earn their keep’ for centuries to come.

“I’m also very proud of the stunning films created by our Digital Team Volunteers to tell the story of each house. They can be viewed on our YouTube channel and we’ve gifted them to Stowe and Hopetoun’s marketing teams.”