Historic gardens to be restored

The gardens were created in 1909. Photo: VisitCumbria

Work has begun to restore a historic garden to its former glory.

Designer Thomas Mawson created the formal gardens at Rydal Hall, near Ambleside, Cumbria, in 1909.

But in recent years, some of the architectural features such as walls, terraces and steps have suffered from the weather and concrete deterioration.

English Heritage awarded a £15,000 grant and funding has come from other sources to restore the garden to the original design.

The start of the work coincides with the appointment of a new gardener at Rydal Hall, Tom Attwood, a former pupil at Sedbergh School.

Special permission

Other funding partners include the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Diocese of Carlisle, the Hall's current owner.

Rydal Hall warden Alasdair Galbraith said: "We were fortunate in that a lot of the moulds Mawson used for pillars and balustrading were found in the cellar at the hall.

"We were also able to carry out tests that established that aggregate used in the original concrete had been taken from the bed of Windermere.

"Though quarrying access to the lake bed is now forbidden we were given special permission to extract some of this aggregate enabling us to replicate the original features."