TWO sisters have written to the new owner of Hurstbourne Park to ask if they can tour the site before the mansion is demolished.

Daphne Thorne and Iris Wedge made the request after reading in the Andover Advertiser of the extensive plans for the estate on the edge of Whitchurch.

The sisters' grandfather was head gardener when Lord Portsmouth owned the estate and their father took over the position during the Second World War when the Bank of England moved into the park after being evacuated from London.

The pair lived with their parents in the grounds of the park and desperately want to visit one last time to rekindle their many happy memories. Daphne and her mother were both born on the estate.

Daphne, aged 61, said: "As soon as I read the article I thought it would be really lovely to go back to see certain things and bring it all back into the forefront of my mind. I thought, 'they are going to knock down that lovely building'. But if the new owners are going to revamp the house then that's a good thing."

Iris, aged 69, recalls the freedom they both enjoyed, with no restrictions on where they could play, but says they were always aware they had to be on their best behaviour because the home came with the job.

She is particularly interested in seeing the Walled Garden again, which she remembers as being 'lovely'.

"We would love to go up and have a wander round and recapture our memories to see if it is really like we remember," Iris said. "It is an idyllic park for children because it is so enclosed and safe.

"I think we are more interested in going back because it is not possible to see it any other way.

"I had a very good friend who stayed in the mansion during the war and she developed a longing to go back."

Daphne added: "I suppose we were quite privileged as children to live in a place like that and I don't think many people who have those sorts of memories will want to go back to where they were born."

The owner of Hurstbourne Park, Nicholas Fane, has agreed to the sisters' request.