A CARE village is happy to welcome a set of historic golden gates dating back to the 1800s.
Paul Brady, village manager at Richmond Wood Norton adds, “We’ve had a fantastic start to the year as a brand new retirement village in the area and the arrival of the Golden Gates has topped off this success.
They are a magnificent piece of art and we feel very privileged to have them back in place as part of our village. We’re very proud of the work we’ve done to create welcoming, relaxing and peaceful homes for people as they retire and believe the gates will now help us to make an even more impressive first impression to those visiting us.”
The gates were lovingly
smith and returned to the south entrance of Richmond Villages Wood Norton.
The gates were once owned by French Royalty after being brought to the UK from the Palace of Versailles in 1872. They led the way to the grand entrance of Wood Norton Hall which was previously owned by exiled French Duc d’Aumale and built as a hunting lodge. They soon became a core part of Wood Norton’s heritage and the site’s history as it changed hands to become a hotel, then a BBC emergency broadcast base during WW2, until they were damaged in 2003 and taken into, Pershore black smith, Steven Cooper’s care. After 16 years the signature gates have been returned and are now situated at the south entrance to the luxury retirement village.
Richmond Villages Wood Norton opened its doors to new residents in March 2019 and as part of the build it was confirmed that the gates would be restored and returned, so that they could be enjoyed once more by residents, families and passers-by.
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