Restoration of unique ‘Capability’ Brown garden given lifeline

A grant from the Government’s £1.57bn Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage has thrown a lifeline to a project to restore the only surviving ‘Capability’ Brown curved walled garden, at the National Trust’s Berrington Hall in Herefordshire.

The project had been at risk of delay due to the financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the conservation charity, but a £269,000 grant from the Culture Recovery Fund has ensured work can continue to restore and conserve this rare survivor of Georgian garden design.

Berrington Hall near Leominster sits within the last garden and landscape to be designed by the renowned 18th century landscape architect, ‘Capability’ Brown. For over a century the unique Grade 2 listed curved walled garden, built in 1783, has been used to house livestock and is now in need of significant restoration to return it to its original glory.

The first stage of the project was to remove the agricultural buildings which were causing damage to the wall. Now specialist work to preserve the original 18th-century bricks and return the space to a garden will begin, with conservation work expected to be complete in March 2021.

This vital funding is from the Culture Recovery Fund for Heritage and the Heritage Stimulus Fund – funded by Government and administered at arm’s length by Historic England and the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Both funds are part of the Government’s £1.57 billion

Culture Recovery Fund which is designed to secure the future of Britain’s museums, galleries, theatres, independent cinemas, heritage sites and music venues with emergency grants and loans.