Our Project - A la Ronde: Conserving the Past, Creating the Future

Weaving together vital conservation work, the development of new experiences, research, collaboration with our local community partners, and innovative digital features, the project aimed to secure and protect A la Ronde for future generations.

Our project was planned for over ten years. We commissioned research to ensure we were confident in our decision making. We improved our understanding of the buildings and grounds, assessed the condition of the decorative materials, connected with local groups, visitors and volunteers, and planned how to organise and timetable such specialist work. We wanted to make sure that A la Ronde would be in the best condition for the next 200 years. Our project began in July 2022 and concluded in September 2024.

Our ambitions

To conserve the delicate interiors of the Shell Gallery, Grotto Staircase, Feather Frieze, and Octagon, sharing what we’ve learnt with audiences.

To develop new partnerships within our local community, creating authentic connections and developing new skills.

To share the significance of A la Ronde, Shell Gallery and the wider estate more widely than ever before, whilst ensuring they are protected.

We are delighted to have received significant funding from both The Wolfson Foundation and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Without their support, this work to secure A la Ronde’s future would not have been possible. Also vital were donations from local supporter groups and visitors, in addition to the fundraising efforts of our volunteers and staff. We would like to extend our grateful thanks to everyone who has contributed - the project has been a huge team effort.

Working in partnership

Our local community is incredibly important to us. As part of the project, we have developed relationships with key partners with the aim of creating new opportunities for local people to connect with the stories and themes of A la Ronde.

Collaborating with partners Exeter Road Primary School, The Deaf Academy, Point in View Chapel, Exmouth Community College, and Devon Carers, we have co-created workshops and activities to better explain the significance of A la Ronde’s heritage, and how its themes are still relevant now. In doing so we have created new communities, experiences, and friendships which will continue into the future.

Connecting with our local community

We have been delighted to partner with The Deaf Academy in Exmouth to offer students work experience opportunities. Three young people have worked alongside our garden volunteers, learning new skills, and developing their confidence to become valued members of our team. We’ve also joined forces with other National Trust properties nearby to offer a combined work experience placement across three different locations.

‘This was a wonderful project and I have enjoyed and felt very privileged to be included.’

Exeter Road Primary School have visited regularly over the course of the project, with groups of children travelling by foot to take part in a variety of craft and nature-related activities. We’ve built up a rapport with these pupils, who have taken a great interest in the story of A la Ronde, feeling a connection to its heritage, and look forward to spending their time here.

Over the past year we have worked with a Carer Peer Support Group from Devon Carers, hosting a series of crafting workshops. These sessions gave carers the opportunity to develop and showcase their creative skills, and gave the space to support one another as carers, sharing stories and experiences. Inspired by the story and spirit of A la Ronde, the group each made individual panels for a quilt, which has been since been sewn together and exhibited as a finished piece.

‘I have really enjoyed meeting other carers, and also the opportunity to ‘have an excuse’ to spend some ‘me time’ to enjoy making this panel. The time spent doing it was so relaxing - and it was nice to find my creative side again that seemed to have got lost with my care responsibilities over the years!’

The success of our partnership work has created a strong foundation for continued work within our local community. We are proud to have made a difference to the lives of participants, who have said:

‘Enjoyed just spending time working through ideas and ‘playing’ with lovely fabrics and yarns - what a treat to just relax for a while!’

Creating a digital audience

A la Ronde may be small in stature, but it has a huge capacity to bring history to life for wider audiences online.

The project gave us the opportunity to photograph, film and digitise this unique property in more depth than ever before. We wanted to make sure A la Ronde’s amazing spaces and stories were as accessible as possible, providing new and innovative ways to engage with the building, the wider estate, and the people who have lived here.

The Compendium

At A la Ronde there are far too many interesting stories to share. We simply can’t fit them all in! One key aspect of the project was the creation of a new online hub, where all of A la Ronde’s curiosities could be found: the Compendium.

A one-stop shop of all things A la Ronde, the Compendium is where you can find anything and everything you want to know. You are looking at the Compendium right now!

The Compendium holds articles about history and collections, as well as information about the brilliant work completed during the project. You will find videos from people we’ve worked with, detailed footage of our discoveries, and much more. The Compendium is available from anywhere. Broadening our audiences, this space is an opportunity to get up close and personal with some of A la Ronde’s histories.

A new digital experience

Up an elaborate Grotto Staircase with uneven steps and around a tiny platform, eleven metres above the ground, the Shell Gallery is far too fragile for our visitors to explore in person. To ensure its survival, only conservators can enter for careful cleaning and monitoring.

But we want to be able to share this curious place, and understand the desire to see it up close. So we have developed a new 360-degree tour, highlighting the history of the gallery and the steps taken throughout its conservation. Both onsite and at home, visitors can explore this space, zooming in, spinning round and learning more about the intricate details that make the Shell Gallery quite so special, whilst ensuring it is protected from further damage.

This new digitisation, packed with information about its creation, patterns, history and conservation, ensures the Shell Gallery is more accessible than ever before.

New spaces and unexpected stories

A key part of our project has been the development of new experiences, ensuring that each time visitors come to A la Ronde, there is something different to explore and enjoy.

Three new spaces have been opened, each designed to broaden visitor’s understanding of A la Ronde’s heritage, and offer new ways of experiencing the fragile Shell Gallery. Trails for families have been designed, videos with British Sign Language translation and captions have been filmed, and there is a new pathway in the grounds, with benches designed and made by local craftspeople.

A place of curiosity and creativity

Mary and Jane Parminter created A la Ronde as a home with a distinctive identity and as a canvas for their freedom of choice and expression. We have taken inspiration from their powerful story and woven this into each of the new areas.

Three new spaces have been opened:

On the First Floor we have created an Exhibition Space, which will display a rolling programme of perhaps unexpected stories, research, and discoveries, as we learn more about A la Ronde. Each year the focus will change, ensuring visitors can learn about different residents, eras, and themes over time.

The Co-Creation Space hosts creative engagement sessions alongside exhibition content. This flexible room is home to the same bustling energy and creativity it would have known when it was part of the original kitchen.

Finally, the Room of Discovery, an immersive hands-on space to experience being inside the unique atmosphere of a shell grotto, exploring the design and artistry that goes into such an intricate space, but allowing visitors to touch and see the features up close.

Everyone welcome

We want to ensure that A la Ronde and its stories are shared with visitors in a variety of different ways. Using a combination of images, British Sign Language translation, captions, and voiceovers, we have created a series of videos to improve accessibility. These can be viewed both at the property, via QR codes, and also online.