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12 million restoration of Chiswick House Gardens unveiled
Chiswick House Gardens is a site of international importance both as the birthplace of the English Landscape Movement, and as the setting for one of the most beautiful houses in London. The regeneration of the gardens is a result of many years of campaigning, four years of fund-raising and two years of work on the site.
English Heritage (manager of the House) and the London Borough of Hounslow (owner of the Gardens) established The Chiswick House and Gardens Trust as an independent charity to drive forward an ambitious rescue plan for the Gardens and secure its future for the 21st century.
The garden restoration, managed by English Heritage, and supported by a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £7.9 million, recovers the original vistas and design from decades of disrepair and underfunding, and also repairs and restores the statuary and garden buildings. The result is an inspiring balance between a historic landscape and a public park.
Highlights include the planting of over 1,600 trees, including trees propagated from the original 18th century cedars of Lebanon; the opening up of historic views from the Classic Bridge, the complete restoration of the 19th century conservatory housing a rare and internationally important collection of camellias; the planting of native trees and shrubs in the Northern Wilderness, and the restoration of the Walled Gardens, which will be open to the public on special days.
To complement the restoration, award-winning architects Caruso St John have designed a new café within the grounds, on a carefully chosen site close to Chiswick House on the east side. The new café provides indoor seating for 80 people and external seating for over 100, and forms the social hub for the park, with a newly created children’s playground beside it.
Effective answer to scrap metal crime wave
In response to the huge increase in the theft of scrap metal, wireless security specialists Tag Guard Ltd have developed a purpose-designed solution that could become a major deterrent.
Major Makeover For Gateway to Ayr Town Centre
A multi-million pound project to transform the historic gateway to Ayr town centre is due to get underway later this year thanks to funding from South Ayrshire Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).The HLF monies (£1.08 million) will supplement the Council’s investment in the Ayr Townscape Heritage Initiative (Ayr THI) to provide grant funding of more than £2.5 million for the repair and refurbishment of properties within the THI area, with the priority buildings being on New Bridge Street – known locally as the ‘pink buildings’.
New faces grace Chapter House restoration
The future of one of London’s oldest buildings, the Chapter House at Westminster Abbey, has been secured following a major English Heritage-led repair and conservation project. Over the past 18 months a team of 20 master carvers and stonemasons has painstakingly cleaned, repaired and conserved the badly weathered gargoyles, stone floral friezes, flying buttresses and stained glass windows. The colossal scaffolding has now come down to reveal the majestic exterior completely refreshed, revived and weather-tight.Knight Frank Scoops Scottish Natural Heritage Maintenance
Knight Frank’s building consultancy team has won a three year contract to manage planned maintenance to Scottish Natural Heritage’s property portfolio across Scotland.Read more: Knight Frank Scoops Scottish Natural Heritage Maintenance
National Trust introduce new apprenticeship scheme
The National Trust has created a new Apprenticeship Scheme in a bid to tackle the severe building skills shortage in the heritage sector.The programme, which is aimed largely at 16 – 19 year olds, will train young men and women in traditional skills including stone masonry, carpentry, joinery, lead work, plumbing, painting and decorating.
Read more: National Trust introduce new apprenticeship scheme
Pittencrieff House Museum Restoration Begins
An ambitious £260,000 restoration of Pittencrieff House, one of Dunfermline’s most historic buildings, gets under way this week.
To mark its 400th birthday, the exterior of the house is undergoing major restoration which is expected to be complete by the autumn.
Heritage Lottery Fund invests £17m in skills
Today, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) has announced an investment of £17m – treble the amount it originally set aside - in 54 projects under its Skills for the Future programme¹. This money will deliver 808 placements and adds-up to an impressive 780 years’ worth of paid training opportunities for people across the UK seeking a career in heritage. It will not only support traditional conservation training but also a wide variety of more contemporary skills, such as managing volunteers and using social media to get people involved in heritage, that will help reinvigorate and broaden the appeal of the heritage industry to job-seekers.
English Heritages historical archive catalogue now online
For the first time the public will be able to search online a catalogue describing more than a million historical photographs and documents relating to England's historic buildings and archaeological sites held by the National Monuments Record (NMR), English Heritage's public archive
Read more: English Heritages historical archive catalogue now online
Heritage Lottery Fund invests over £1m in skills in the North East
Today, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is announcing an investment of almost £1.2m into three projects across the North East under its Skills for the Future programme.
Read more: Heritage Lottery Fund invests over £1m in skills in the North East
Chief Executive welcomes conservation of Chapter House
On Tuesday, 26 May 2010 a reception was held at Westminster Abbey to mark the completion of the repair and conservation of the exterior of the Chapter House. English Heritage's Chief Executive Dr Simon Thurley delivered the following speech, touching on the significance of the building, the craftsmanship involved in the project, the publication of a new book on the Chapter House as well as the current economic climate and as announced recently by the Government, the cuts to the public sector.
Read more: Chief Executive welcomes conservation of Chapter House
Draft Kings Park plan out for consultation
A draft plan to transform Stirling’s Kings Park to meet the needs of the whole community now and in the future is out for consultation.The Kings Park in Stirling is a park steeped in the history of Stirling and Scotland and also a much loved, contemporary green space in the heart of the city providing leisure and pleasure to City residents and visiting tourists as well as offering stunning views to Stirling Castle and the distant hills.
£7million to help repair England's historic places of worship
English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund announce grants to help restore Grade II listed places of worship
English Heritage (EH) and the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) have today (Monday 24 May 2010) announced funding of £7million to help restore 68 historic Grade II listed places of worship in England. Places of worship from a range of faiths and denominations are set to benefit from the organisations’ joint Repair Grants for Places of Worship programme.
The buildings set to benefit include the Memorial Community Church, a Grade II listed Baptist Church in Newham, East London; the Church of the Sacred Heart, a Grade II listed Roman Catholic Church in Portsmouth; and the Church of St Peter and St Paul in Lincolnshire.
Read more: £7million to help repair England's historic places of worship
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