Public vote for garden restoration
1 June 2010
The public are being invited to have their say on the next phase of work in restoring Grade II listed Regency gardens at Cricket St Thomas Hotel near Chard, Somerset - famous as the location of BBC sitcom To the Manor Born.
The restoration project has just come to the end of the first year of a three-year programme. So far work has concentrated on the draining of several man-made lakes, clogged with 45 years' worth of silt, and the creation of a new water garden at the entrance to the park. Visitors are now being asked to vote on what they think should be the priority for the next stage of work: sculpture, activities, exhibitions or the gardens themselves.
'It was quite run down until a couple of years ago,' says head gardener Dave West. 'We have guests and locals whose children and grandchildren have grown up and remember how it was before, so we're trying to involve them to make sure they get a say in what they'd like to see more of.'
The gardens at Cricket St Thomas sit at the heart of a 160-acre estate and were created in the early 19th century by the second Lord Bridport. He spent the then enormous sum of £250,000 on creating spectacular ornamental water gardens by damming the river which ran through the garden to create a chain of lakes and cascades.
Until last year they were at the centre of a wildlife park which has now closed, with most of the animals re-homed so that the restoration project could begin. As well as the restoration of the main lakes, views across the valley are being opened up and RHS gold medal-winning designer Kate Gould has helped revamp an existing grotto. There is also a wildflower garden and a maze planted with roses in the shape of a rosebud.
The gardens at Cricket St Thomas are open daily until September.