Lottery writes new chapter for Agatha Christie house

The only surviving residence of Agatha Christie, containing her last remaining personal possessions, is to be restored and opened to the public thanks to an £800,000 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).  Greenway House near Brixham, Devon will be repaired and restored as the 1950’s holiday home of Agatha Christie and her family.

Greenway was given to the National Trust by Agatha Christie’s family in 2000, and its magical Grade 11 listed gardens have been open to the public since then. This grant will now enable visitors to explore the 18th Century, Grade II* house for the first time.

The house contents include a comprehensive set of first editions of Agatha’s books, many of which she has inscribed, as well as a huge range of objects and collections gathered around them by Agatha Christie and her family.  All will be conserved, catalogued and presented to visitors to give the closest possible insight into the author’s private and family life at Greenway.

Nerys Watts, HLF Manager in the South West comments; ‘Once restoration work is complete a visit to Greenway House will take you back to the 1950’s, when Agatha Christie was reaping the rewards of her remarkable career.  The house and contents have never before been seen by the public and this is a fantastic opportunity to secure their future and open them up for everyone to explore and enjoy.’

Robyn Brown, National Trust Property Manager at Greenway adds; ‘We are absolutely delighted that HLF has awarded us this grant. The gift of the contents of the house, the private collections of 5 generations of Agatha Christie’s family, transformed the potential for our project, ‘Greenway, Another Chapter’.

‘Now this grant will ensure that the National Trust will be able to fulfil the vision we share with Mathew Prichard, Agatha Christie’s grandson, to bring to life this much loved family holiday home. When the work is finished we will be able to show and use the house much as the family did.’

As the quiet retirement home of Dame Agatha’s daughter and son-in-law, Rosalind and Anthony Hicks, Greenway House remained closed to visitors. Following their deaths in 2004 and 2005, it passed to the Trust. Her grandson, Mathew Prichard, has not only gifted the contents of the house to the Trust, but continues to work with the Trust to enable visitors to see his family’s unique collections in the only surviving house which belonged to the world’s most loved crime author.
 
Work will include restoring the infrastructure of the building which is currently in poor condition, creating new paths to ease access, building a digital database of the collections and setting up new transport links to the site, including ferries from Torbay and Totnes. The National Trust currently receives 28,000 visitors to the garden each year, and this is expected to rise to 60,000 as the house opens, with as many as possible encouraged to arrive by river transport.
 
The Heritage Lottery Fund grant will also go towards a learning programme, a new member of staff to develop community activities, and a range of interpretation materials including virtual tours, a website and leaflets. A volunteer programme will also enable members of the local community to get involved as guides and interpreters.
 
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For images and further information:
Please contact Alex Gaskell, Heritage Lottery Fund on: 020 7591 6047 or email agaskell@hlf.org.uk
Website: www.hlf.org.uk.  

Janet Sherriff at the National Trust, on: 01392 883 105 or email janet.sherriff@nationaltrust.org.uk

Notes to editors:   

• The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and historic buildings to local parks and beauty spots or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nation’s heritage for everyone to enjoy.  We have supported more than 22,000 projects, allocating over £3.6 billion across the UK. This includes £375 million in the South West alone.

•  The National Trust is Europe's largest conservation charity, with over 3.4 million members. Founded in 1895, it is the second largest membership organisation in the UK.   The National Trust is independent of government, relying for income on membership fees, donations and legacies, and revenue raised from its commercial operations such as restaurants, shops and holiday cottages.

• Greenway Garden, Barn Gallery, shop and restaurant are open from 7 March-13 October 2007, Wednesday- Saturday, 10.30am-5pm.