A HOT wall has been exposed during a £850,000 restoration project at a 150-year-old Victorian glasshouse.

The hot wall at Helmsley Walled Gardens,was originally used to heat the former Victorian vinery before it was modernised and plastered over in 1910.

The glasshouses were heated with coal and wood fires and the heat was transferred along horizontal flues in the rear wall.

However, fumes had the tendency to kill the plants or could turn the glass black, and it was replaced in 1910 with a modern convection hot water system.

Head gardener Paul Radcliffe, said: "The recently exposed walls have proved of great interest."