A rare opportunity to explore historic Tudor ruins in Chislehurst before important repair works take place is on offer this weekend.

Scadbury Park's 900-year-old moated manor house was formerly home to the Walsingham family, which held several important connections to the royal Tudor court.

The open weekend offers a rare glimpse of the site before an upcoming £140,000 repair project, supporting by funding of just over £82,000 from Historic England, begins.

Jane Sidell, Historic England Inspector of Ancient Monuments, said: "We’re delighted to be able to fund these works to repair Scadbury Park Moated Manor which will help towards removing it from the Heritage at Risk Register.

This Is Local London: Scadbury Manor (Des Blenkinsopp)Scadbury Manor (Des Blenkinsopp)

“This builds on the considerable time and effort invested in the site in recent years by everyone involved, particularly the industrious Orpington and District Archaeological Society.

“I hope visitors this weekend will enjoy discovering the many layers of history at Scadbury from the medieval and Tudor, to the Second World War."

The moated manor, which is designated by Historic England as a scheduled monument, is located within three hundred acres of countryside, forming the wider local nature reserve and part of the original estate.

Visitors can follow a self-guided, socially-distanced, trail on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 September between 2pm and 4.30pm (last entry).

The current archaeological excavations and foundations of the Tudor kitchens and great hall will be on display, showing how these would have been used in the thirteenth century.

Visitors will also see World War II defences and a restored shepherd’s hut.

Janet Clayton, Chairman of ODAS, said: "We are delighted that Historic England and LB Bromley are funding vital work which will help protect the future of the manor site.

“Scadbury is an important heritage asset for Bromley and we look forward to showing the site to visitors over the Open Weekend."

Scadbury Manor moated site and fishponds were designated by Historic England as a scheduled monument in 2013 and added to the Heritage at Risk Register in 2014.

Bromley is currently in the process of awarding the associated contract for the repair works, which are due to start later this month. 

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