ONE of the region’s stately homes has won lottery cash for its role in a major new venture on the role of Yorkshire country houses in times of war.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded £42,500 to Kiplin Hall, near Richmond, for the collaborative initiative, which will run up and through the centenary of the outbreak of the Great War.

Seven other Yorkshire houses are participating, amongst them Castle Howard, Newby Hall and Beningborough Hall.

Each has plans to undertake tasks relevant to the house and its succession of owners, such as research and conservation, and some, including Kiplin Hall, will present a public exhibition, which will link the participating houses.

The regional head of the HLF, Fiona Spiers, said: “At Kiplin Hall, the HLF grant will enable the conservation and rejuvenation of key rooms in their wartime story and enhance the visitor experience through local memories, research and interpretation.”

Kiplin Hall curator Dawn Webster added: “At Kiplin we are particularly hoping to find people who recollect the Second World War, either as RAF or ground personnel at the munitions unit at Kiplin or on the airfields at Scorton, Catterick, Croft and Middleton-St. George, which were supplied with bombs and ammunition from Kiplin.

“I am sure there are local people who still remember the role played by these units, the aeroplanes that crashed in this area or who, as children, played on the airfields after the war. Any information or photographs that we can scan would be incredibly valuable to us.

“Evacuees also have a major part to play in this oral history project. If anyone has a story to tell, please do get in touch with us.”

Contact Kiplin Hall on (01748) 818178.