Can Highclere Castle be saved? Historic home is verging on ruin as Lord Carnarvon reveals £12m repair bill



From a distance it looks like a classic fairytale castle.

Its majestic architecture and stunning setting have allowed it to play host through the centuries to royalty, nobility and celebrity. But the studded wooden doors of Highclere Castle conceal a depressingly modern reality.

Large parts of the historic stately home are verging on ruin. And the head of a family which once funded the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb is facing a multi-million pound repair bill to safeguard its future.

Seemingly beautiful: Despite the stunning setting, Highclere Castle in Berkshire has been ravaged by damp and rot and needs £12m spent on it to preserve the historic home for future generations

Shocking truth: A fireplace in one of the dilapidated bedrooms with mould growing on the walls

Now the Earl of Carnarvon, whose great grandfather is said to have been struck by the curse of the Pharaohs for his part in disturbing the Egyptian king's burial site, claims to be having sleepless nights over how - or if - it can be saved.

For despite a facade of luxury and magnificence - and the patronage of a string of supposed celebrity weddings - the castle has been ravaged by damp and rot.



Seeping water has caused stonework to crumble and ceilings to collapse. At least 50 rooms are uninhabitable.



Its proud stone turrets - designed by the same architect who created the Houses of Parliament - are said to be in danger of decaying beyond repair unless urgent restoration work is carried out.

Sleepless nights: Lord Carnarvon shows the damage inside his ancestorial home and fears millions of pounds will have to be spent to save the castle

Crumbling away: Erosion can be seen on a sandstone column (left) of the main tower, while inside plaster work falls away from the wall

Only the ground floor, with a great oak staircase at its heart, and the first floor, which is used for bridal parties, remain useable.



Even these have racked up a repair bill running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

The contrast is dramatically illustrated by the opulence of the rococo style drawing room... and the squalor of stinking damp walls and swarms of flies elsewhere.

The 52-year-old Earl declared: 'Worrying about how I am going to keep it all going does give me sleepless nights. It is a wonderful responsibility and a great privilege to live at Highclere Castle, which is part of the most beautiful landscape in Southern England.



Worse for wear: The large front doors to Highclere Castle, which are now showing their age

Weathered: Stone has crumbled away from a carved face (left) at the main gate and a massive hole has appeared in the ceiling of one of the bedrooms

'It is a quite incredible house, set in beautiful 18th century grounds - but with that comes a great responsibility for the building and everything else that encompasses the estate.'

Like many a cash-strapped aristocrat pleading for help in a recession, Lord Carnarvon has been forced to do some critical sums and devise a way of raising money.

The Earl, who lives in a modest cottage in the grounds with his wife and three children, blames a lack of repair by his ancestors for the castle's long term problems.

Neglected: Locked and rusting gates of Highclere's London Lodge folly - the original carriage entrance into the estate. The folly requires about £500,000 to repair

Vast grandeur: There are at least 50 rooms in Highclere Castle which are now uninhabitable, and a stark contrast to the home's opulent library (above)

He estimates that the castle itself needs at least £1.8million spent on it urgently - and that further work on the 5,000 acre estate's other buildings and Capability Brown landscape could bump the bill up to a staggering £12million.



Recently the 8th Earl - George Reginald Oliver Molyneux Herbert - applied for 'enabling development' permission to build a housing estate in the grounds and use the land-sale money for repairs.



Although the proposal was greeted with widespread horror, its progress is currently being watched with keen interest by other stately home owners faced with similarly crippling responsibility to preserve national heritage.

Fai rytale setting: The castle's music room (left) decorated with Italian embroideries, and the Gothic architecture of the saloon, where people can get married

Grandeur: The saloon, seen from the staircase, is one of the few useable rooms in Highclere Castle

The castle, near Newbury, has its origins in the 14th century and was transformed to its current grandeur in 1838 by Sir Charles Barry.

Since then it has boasted impeccable connections. It was the home of the Queen's great friend and former racehorse trainer, the 7th Earl, and Her Majesty was a frequent visitor until his death in 2001.