Restoration drama

Following years of wear and tear and benign neglect, a major regeneration project is now underway to restore and revive Chiswick House Gardens. Jim Clayton discovers more

Above: Chiswick house

Chiswick House and Gardens is one of the jewels in West London’s crown. Set in 65 acres, the House is a glorious example of neo-Palladian architecture and the Gardens are generally considered to be birthplace of the English Landscape Movement. Of course, as well as these impeccable historical credentials, the grounds are also a much-loved environmental and recreational resource for local people.

In the past this division between heritage site that must be preserved for the greater good and public park that should be as accessible as possible inevitably caused tension between interested parties. The situation was exacerbated by confusion over the management, funding and preservation of the estate as a whole, with the House under the aegis of English Heritage and the Gardens the responsibility of the London Borough of Hounslow.

The timely foundation of the Chiswick House and Gardens Trust (CHGT) in April 2005 has provided an integrated management solution to these longstanding problems. Chaired by Rupert Hambro and composed of representatives of English Heritage and Hounslow Council, CHGT’s remit is simply described: to preserve, regenerate, maintain and enhance the House and Gardens for the benefit of both the public and the national interest. And, most excitingly, thanks to a generous grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the first fruits of its vision are about to seen, with the start of works on an ambitious project to restore the Gardens to their original splendour.

I recently met local resident Jan Shawe, one of the independent trustees, to discover more about the changes that visitors will see happening on the ground. Jan has long been a fan of Chiswick House: ‘For the last 20 years I’ve been taking my nearest and dearest to the park – and bursting with pride to have it here. The House has been kept in decent nick by English Heritage, but sadly the Gardens have been allowed to run down,’ she admits. ‘A while ago I was talking to the Head Gardener [Fiona Crumley] and she summed it up succinctly, saying: “It’s obvious that for the last 70 years the Gardens just haven’t been gardened.” There has been neglect, but given Hounslow’s different priorities and limited resources, I’m not sure that it could ever have given the grounds the priority they clearly warrant.’

Having identified the Gardens as its top priority – and after extensive local consultation – one of the Trust’s first actions was to approach the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for a Public Parks award. ‘This was for the grounds only,’ explains Jan. ‘At some stage we may go for further funding for the House, but that isn’t in such a bad state at the moment.’ Three key principles underpinned CHGT’s application: firstly, that the Gardens will remain a public park that is free to enter; secondly, that the site must be financially sustainable and its management and maintenance properly resourced; and lastly, that all revenue raised will be re-invested in the site.

In January the good news came through. ‘The application was successful and we were awarded £7.6 million on condition we raise £4 million in match-funding,’ Jan tells me. ‘We presented all our plans to HLF before it was agreed and we had to have the planning permission in place, for example for the new café and the grassed car park at the northern end of the Kitchen Garden. We are now working with trusts, foundations and wealthy individuals to meet the match-funding target.’

In its mission statement Chiswick House and Gardens Trust says that by 2015 it hopes to have created ‘a special place that will be valued for its history, beauty and cultural facilities where everyone will feel welcome and find something to enjoy.’ This spring, at long last, that ambition will begin to be realised.

For information visit www.chgt.org.uk or www.chfriends.org.uk