AN ANONYMOUS Rolls Royce owner has parted with a ‘‘really generous’’ donation for the preservation of the historic Clarendon House.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Members of the Veteran Car Club of Tasmania and the Victorian branch of the Rolls Royce Owners Club of Australia spent the weekend fundraising towards the restoration of the seven-hectare property on the banks of the South Esk River at Nile.
A big part of the restoration has been replacing the roof for the first time since 1880. This will be its third roof overall in nearly 200 years.
Revenue raised from the Rollers and Friends’ Rolls Royce and Veteran Cars event, which included a gala dinner at Clarendon House on Saturday, will supplement the $278,000 cost of the new roof.
National Trust managing director Matthew Smithies remained tight lipped – but smiling – when asked about one donation reaching six figures.
‘‘One of the attendees, who wants to remain anonymous, when they walked into the gala dinner they gave me an envelope with a really generous donation,’’ he said, admitting it had been quite a shock.
‘‘I can’t say how much but it was very substantial, which is really just a great thing.’’
Many members of the Veteran Car Club of Tasmania give up their time and volunteer at Clarendon House.
The luxury car owners on Sunday paraded their selection of Rolls Royces, Bentleys and a selection of other vintage and classic cars for visitors to view.
The event was on the itinerary for Victorian Rolls Royce owners’ heritage tour of Northern Tasmania.
Clarendon House has been closed for some time as Welsh slate had to be imported from the UK to meet National Trust heritage standards for the new roof.
Before new slate was fitted, old slate was removed and new infrastructure and support beams were installed internally in the roof cavity.
‘‘We were extremely vigilant about the conservation management plan, and the contractors studied that to an extraordinary level and spoke to a huge amount of heritage practitioners to gain knowledge,’’ Mr Smithies said.
He said the ‘‘extraordinary team’’ provided a lesson of the value of heritage craftsmanship.
Mr Smithies said the National Trust could count only a handful of heritage practitioners now left in the state.
‘‘The biggest thrill for us at the National Trust is ‘yes, we got a new roof’, but overriding that is a young apprentice who has learned a dying trade through this,’’ he said.