A PROJECT to save the roof of a former Tudor “power house” has won two prestigious heritage awards from the Association for Heritage Interpretation (AHI).

The £5.4 million National Trust project at The Vyne won the awards for its innovative layout inside the house, called Lifting the Lid at The Vyne.

At the recent AHI 2017 Discover Heritage Awards ceremony The Vyne won the association’s highest accolade, the Award for Excellence in Interpretation, as well as best in category, securing the Museum and Historic Properties and Sites Award.

Other renowned candidates included the British Museum, Kew Gardens, Tintagel Castle and Hampton Court Palace.

Kathryn Allen-Kinross, assistant project curator, said: “To win these awards is a fantastic achievement; everyone involved has worked incredibly hard.

“We are all very proud of what we have accomplished and truly delighted to receive this recognition.”

Bill Bevan, AHI chair said: “It was chosen as overall winner because the AHI judges recognised the project’s successful aspirations to turn major renovation work into an opportunity for innovative interpretation, in a way that is an exemplar to other historic houses.”

The Vyne used the roof project, necessary due to a water leak caused by a storm in December 2013, to reinterpret the experience inside the mansion.

The central focus of Lifting the Lid at The Vyne explores a key moment in The Vyne’s history - a royal visit argued to have impacted the course of the Reformation in October 1535.

Specialist research was undertaken with the Universities of Oxford and Southampton to allow The Vyne’s team to thread together the details of this event.

The highlight lies in The Vyne’s rare, Pre-Reformation chapel, where the team recreated a Tudor mass ‘soundscape’ as King Henry would have heard it almost five centuries ago.

With the house shrouded in scaffolding during its large-scale roof replacement, a lift-accessible rooftop walkway has enabled more than 100,000 visitors to see conservation in action since March this year.

Visitors have until the end of January to explore the house and the rooftop walkway before the project ends.

The project has been also accepted as a nomination by insurance company Aviva Plc, in its Aviva Community Fund competition to receive a cash boost.

With enough votes cast by 21 November, The Vyne would be entered into the finals, where a judging panel could award funding that will help pay for the roof refurbishment.

To register and vote, go to community-fund.aviva.co.uk/