A piece of Victorian history nestled within a Chorleywood mansion has undergone a momentous facelift.

After almost a year under tarpaulin sheets, while a half-million pound restoration project took place, the Victorian Conservatory in Cedars Mansion House is finally ready to be unveiled.

The 150-year-old building began life as a glass house where the owner, the then Governor of the Bank of England, housed a collection of tropical plants, exotic snakes and reptiles.

Since it was built in 1865, the domed building has developed signs of ageing, with rust and damp threatening the integrity of the structure.

An extensive programme of refurbishment started last summer when experts stripped the structure back to its base metal.

After treating the damage and repainting the frame, doors and windows were overhauled and upgraded to last for another 150 years and beyond.

Television gardener Christine Walkden, host of Christine's Gardens and contributor to The One Show, will officially reopen the conservatory in Finch Green on May 19.

The mansion's history can be traced back as far as 1692, and was purchased by John Saunders Gilliatt in 1861, who pulled down the old house to build his own design, which included two conservatories, a ballroom and a swimming pool.

At the time, John Saunders Gilliatt was Lord of the Manor of Rickmansworth, Chairman of the Council, and president of the golf club.

He was also an important figure in the City of London and on becoming Governor of the Bank of England, had his own private railway stop built near the house.

The mansion became a school for the blind in 1917, before being turned into a retirement village in 1987.

Colin Foulger, village manager, said: “The restoration of the conservatory has been a very long and detailed process but the results are stunning.

“We missed not having access to it during the work but, now it’s been restored, it looks absolutely wonderful and we’re looking to showing it off at the reopening.”

The protective tarpaulins have been removed in time for the residents to hold a royal wedding celebration, before the official opening later in May.