NEWLY-WEDS have celebrated their love by becoming the first couple to wed at a barn.

Sangita Patel from Sudbury pledged her vows with Tom Funnell from Brighton in the first wedding to take place at The Great Barn at Headstone Manor, Harrow since its £1 million restoration.

The new Mrs Funnell has lived in Sudbury her entire life so was always aware of the museum at Headstone Manor but had not realised she could get married there.

She said: “We thought a barn wedding would be lovely and we were very excited when I discovered it was being restored and that we could use the Great Barn as our wedding venue – the timing was perfect.

“Tom and I had to don hard hats when we came to see it as a building site in the spring but we fell in love with the space and booked it for November.

“It was a leap of faith, but we saw it again at the end of September and knew we’d made the right decision, it looked fantastic and we knew it would make a phenomenal wedding venue”.

The Grade II* listed building was constructed in 1506 when the whole Manor was owned by the Archbishops of Canterbury.

But now the building has been restored to its original former glory as part of a three year programme of regeneration for the museum, supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Harrow Council

Headstone Manor and Museum manager Jo Saunders said: “It is wonderful to see the Great Barn fulfilling its potential with this first lovely event after the 9 months of restoration, we look forward to being the location for many, many celebrations to come.”