Environment, News

Hopes walled gardens could become ‘integral part’ of Wollaton Park as restoration work planned

By Joe Locker, Local Democracy Reporter

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Walled gardens dating back centuries could become an “integral part” of Wollaton Hall and its deer park with continued restoration work.

Plans have been submitted for the refurbishment and restoration of Wollaton Hall’s walled garden potting sheds and supporting buildings, including the restoration of windows, doors, roofing, walls and fireplaces.

The garden was first created in the 16th Century to provide fruit and vegetables to the hall and its household.

The four-acre garden is currently being restored by volunteers under the banner of the ‘Wollaton Walled Garden Project’.

The project is a community-led collaboration between the Friends of Wollaton Park group and the Wollaton Hall Historical Society, which are supported by Nottingham City Council’s park management staff.

Since their involvement, the site now features vibrant flower beds, a sensory garden, vegetable beds, an orchard, a tree nursery, a restored Head Gardener’s Cottage, and a rebuilt cucumber house.

The groups have now submitted plans to Nottingham City Council, with the site in “desperate need of repair”, plans say.

Cllr Steve Battlemuch (Lab), who represents the Wollaton West ward and who helped establish the Friends of Wollaton Park group, said: “It was a broken down mess in 2015.

“It’s still not the finished article, but it is already a different place.

“Hundreds and hundreds of volunteers have worked on it. People were saying you would need millions of pounds and that you’d never raise that through fundraising, but they decided to chip away bit by bit.

“You’ve now got the cucumber house which is incredible, and the Gardner’s Cottage. The potential is massive.

“My view is that we want to get to the point where that area of the park is open seven days a week for all to visit, not just through guided tours.

“There are bits that are dangerous, there is a lot of work in progress, but I think hopefully in a few years time we can get to the point where it will be an integral part of Wollaton Park.”

According to planning documents, which are subject to approval, the groups are looking to begin work by restoring a heritage dormitory, thought to date back to the 18th Century, by replacing the slate roof, brickwork and windows.

A second brick structure, thought to date back to the 19th Century, has suffered a recent collapse and could be used to support volunteering work.

It is intended the building be used as support facilities for more than 100 garden volunteers, due to it having a working toilet, drainage and an electrical supply.

Documents add: “The potting sheds are seen as having both an educational part to play for the kitchen garden, and provide the volunteers with additional work space and for the public – particularly visiting children – to gain an understanding of food production of a previous age.

“The longer-term goal is to demonstrate how the heritage of these buildings can also embrace current ecological goals by incorporating solar panels systems for heat and light taking over from the existing mains without compromising the visual history.”

Hundreds of thousands of pounds are currently being spent repairing Wollaton Hall itself after a backlog in maintenance put the historic Nottingham landmark at risk of water damage.

The council says Historic England visited Wollaton Hall in 2022 to assess areas of the building which had become a cause for concern.

It resulted in the Grade I listed Elizabethan mansion, built between 1580 and 1588, being added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.