The National Trust has announced that Tyntesfield – a Victorian gothic mansion near Bristol, UK – is set for a £20m revamp.

The gazebos and aviary will be restored in part by woodwork students linked to a local college and the gardener’s house will be converted into student accommodation.

An 18-month project will convert the sawmill into a learning centre and a three-year roof restoration project will provide an opportunity for heritage skills training.

Conservation work will also be carried out to support bat populations in the mansion and surveys will be taken of all the house contents.

Further proposals include new visitor and reception buildings, which are due to open in 2009, as well as a rolling programme of opening up new rooms and areas in the estate. These will include the gallery rooms; family, guest and servants’ bedrooms; the second floor nurseries and Lady Wraxall’s room as well as a servants’ tour covering the linen room and drying room and a revamped Wraxall Hill Woods. The Oak Room and Morning Room are scheduled to open in 2007.

Fiona Reynolds, director general of the National Trust, said: “Our plans to develop Tyntesfield as a centre of excellence for heritage and craft skills offering wider opportunities for learning and community engagement, can now become a reality.

“We look forward to opening up this magnificent, historic time capsule where people can find new ways to engage with history and heritage conservation.”

Carole Souter, director of the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), which is funding the project, added: “Tyntesfield is one of the country’s most spectacular Victorian treasures. The National Trust will now be able to continue its vision for the property, which includes truly innovative educational and conservation work. The project has been particularly successful in engaging people in the whole complex restoration process and letting visitors see it taking place.”

It has been four years since the National Trust acquired Tyntesfield, following an emergency public appeal and grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund. Details: www.nationaltrust.org.uk

Photograph: The West Front of Tyntesfield taken from the corner of the lawn, showing the Gothic Revival architecture by John Norton, designed between 1863 and 1866 in Bath Stone, courtesy of Andrew Butler