Recognition for ‘challenging’ restoration
11 September 2010
A two-year restoration project which overcame setbacks including several unexploded bombs to preserve a Buckinghamshire landscape shaped by Capability Brown has won a prestigious Green Flag award recognising the best parks and open spaces in the country.
Langley Park, near Slough, has been transformed with the help of a grant of almost £2 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, with further funding from Buckinghamshire County Council and others.
The 52 hectare (130 acre) park is particularly known for its Victorian arboretum, including an avenue of giant sequioas (Sequoiadendron giganteum), and for its Temple Gardens surrounded by more than 2,000 rhododendrons collected at the beginning of the last century by plant enthusiast Sir Robert Grenville Harvey. The collection is now being identified and catalogued by gardeners with the help of expert Ivor Stokes, of the RHS Magnolia Azalea and Rhododendron Group.
A team of landscape architects, structural engineers and lake specialists have restored views across towards Windsor Castle, brought the Temple Gardens back to their former grandeur and cleared out the heavily-silted lake.
The restoration was described as ‘challenging’ by design consultants Scott Wilson, also responsible for the recent acclaimed restoration of Chiswick Park in London. Work was frequently interrupted by the discovery of unexploded bombs in the lake, dropped in World War II when the park was used as a training ground by the Polish army.
‘We dealt with a large quantity of World War II unexploded ordnance in the lake during the de-silting process and this had to be removed and safely destroyed before work could progress,’ explained project manager Jon Rooney. 'But this challenging restoration project has brought Langley Park back to life, restoring features and views and improving access to its hidden treasures.'
Langley Park is open daily