St Leonards Gardens, and South Lodge, a building at the southern entrance of the gardens, are to be extensively refurbished with the help of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £1 million.
The gardens are the centrepiece of James Burton's new town founded in 1828. James Burton made substantial contributions to British architecture, as did his son Decimus, who also worked at St Leonards and designed a number of London parks.
The gardens are listed grade II in recognition of their national importance. For many decades they were an oasis of horticultural excellence, but have sadly declined. The Council, on its own, was unable to invest enough money to fully restore them and so turned to the Heritage Lottery Fund for help.
Following the Heritage Lottery Fund award, work will now take place to restore much of the infrastructure of the gardens, including: walls, paths, external and internal railings, seats, steps and litter and dog bins. The project will also mean the replanting of flower and shrub borders, and the removal of specific trees and shrubs to open obscured views both within the gardens, and of adjacent buildings.
South Lodge, a Burton building, will undergo an external refurbishment and the West Lodge will be transformed internally with a disabled toilet and public exhibition space for Burton-related artefacts. The building will also become home for the Burtons’ St Leonards Society and provide a base for a 'Friends of the Gardens' group.
In addition, grant money will be used to produce an Audience Development Plan, to encourage a wider range of people to use the gardens. A Community Development officer will be employed for 18 months, to put these ideas into practice.
At present contracts are being signed for the works, due to begin very soon and which will take up to a year to complete. During the works, the gardens will be closed. Regular updates on progress will be posted on information boards around the gardens.
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This page last updated: 12/09/2006