We are overjoyed to hear that we have been awarded a £10,000 start-up grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), following our application in September 2015. Our successful application will be the beginning of a new lease of life for Whitehurst Gardens.
The grant will be used to fund initial surveys of the site, raise awareness and provide for community consultation, as well as enabling the Friends of Whitehurst Gardens to develop skills for future fundraising and management of the site. Commenting on the award, Vice-Chairman of FWG and Head Gardener of Chirk Castle, Mr David Lock, said, “We are delighted and very much excited by the start up grant. It will enable us to find out what survives of the garden structure under the years of neglect and what our priorities are for the next stage. It also will let us find out what the local people want from us and the garden, and it will inform gardeners and historians a little more of what we have here – an existing 17th century walled garden with some unique features in a lovely part of the world. I’d like to thank the Heritage Lottery Fund for giving us the opportunity to begin our project, and Wrexham County Borough Council, who own the site, for supporting our group with this project and its longer term restoration aims.” Explaining the importance of the HLF support, the head of the HLF in Wales, Richard Bellamy explains, “The Start-up Grants fund has been designed to support new ventures such as these, giving organisations the skills and knowledge to preserve and share our unique heritage. HLF are pleased to support this community group in Wrexham to learn how to successfully preserve and restore this historically important site for the benefit of the community.” Part of the start-up grant from HLF is going to fund a series of surveys to help FWG determine how to progress with the restoration of the gardens.
A whole site, structural and fabric condition survey is due to be carried out by Bob Johnson Consulting Structural Engineers of Shrewsbury, who are recognised for work on Conservation projects (http://www.bjse.co.uk/). A detailed 3D scanning survey of the vinery will be undertaken by Russell Geomantics of Chester (http://www.russellgeomatics.co.uk/). This will properly record the old vinery, which is extremely vulnerable, and help us determine how we can preserve or rebuild this structure. A baseline archaeological survey will be carried out by Paul Belford, Director of Clwyd/Powys Archaeological Trust (http://www.cpat.org.uk/). He will look at the surviving archaeological features of the site – the garden wall, terracing and mound - and advise on what needs to be done to protect the site's valuable heritage. We have two important meetings this month - which you are more than welcome to attend. Both are on the same day - not a usual occurrence for us!
FWG Advisory Group Meeting Thursday 21st January 10am The Boathouse, Chirk Marina. http://theboathouseatchirk.co.uk/ We will discuss the current situation at Whitehurst Gardens and our immediate plans on achieving our vision for the site. Attending will be members and supporters of FWG, plus representatives from our collaborators at Wrexham County Borough Council, the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust, Cadw, Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust and the National Trust. FWG Committee Meeting Thursday 21st January 7pm The Boathouse, Chirk Marina. http://theboathouseatchirk.co.uk/ At our monthly committee meetings, we discuss ways in which we can: • raise funds for initiating the restoration of the gardens; • increase awareness of the site and support for the group’s aims among the local community; • expand the group’s range of skills in areas vital to the project, such as fundraising, project management, heritage conservation, and so on. Anyone able to help or wishing to support this project is very welcome to come to the meeting and should telephone: Adrian Jones (Chair): 01691 773413 or 0771 055 8230 Glenys Jones (Treasurer): 01691 773440 or 0775 146 9647 Or e-mail: whitehurstgardens@gmail.com |
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