This project is the culmination of over 10 years’ work by LUC. Appointed in 1996, we were first successful in seeking funding from the HLF Parks for People Programme, then with our team of specialists we set about the design and procurement of the works, with additional funding from the London Borough of Redbridge.
The overall aims of the project were:
- To conserve and restore the Grade II listed Valentines Park and more specifically the important buildings and garden structures at the historic core of the site
- To achieve removal from the Buildings at Risk register of the Park’s listed garden structures
- To enhance biodiversity and sustainability through design measures and management, and through employment generation
- To rekindle the historic park for 21st century usage
Careful historic research, archaeological excavation and our knowledge of traditional building techniques were used to bring together a package of conservation and restoration works. These included the patient restoration of a number of rare Rococo garden elements from the 1720s-1750s, some so badly neglected as to be classified as ‘Buildings At Risk.’ Prime amongst these were the formal canal (nearly 200m long), two grottos complete with shell and flint decoration, the Dovecote, and the exquisite Alcove Seat. Both their setting and selected parts of the wider park were restored including The Wilderness, Walled Gardens and the general parkland.
LUC was also closely involved in the restoration of the Grade II* listed Valentines Mansion, carefully inserting a new car park and a sculpture court, and stripping away years of unsympathetic municipal accretion around the building. We provided access to previously closed areas, improved facilities for those with disabilities and increased intellectual access through direct and indirect interpretation, events, etc.
Both parts of the project involved extensive public consultation which resulted in very strong public support. The consultation process had the added benefit of aiding social inclusion through the fostering of friends’ groups and active collaboration with existing and new users of the Park.
Work involved technically difficult dredging, decontamination of water bodies and complex and delicate repairs to built structures using sustainable techniques, extensive new planting within the walled gardens including restoration of the 1870s Rose Garden. A 3m-diameter commemorative mosaic was also designed and commissioned.
The project illustrates the breadth of skill in LUC’s landscape design team through the entire restoration process from vision to completion. It was challenging, but by bringing together skilled designers and craftsmen and combining this with the support of the funding agencies and local conservationists, we have conserved and restored a historic park for future generations.
Ultimately our work has lead to the renaissance of Valentine’s Park and a renewed understanding of the rare heritage importance of a Rococo landscape in a 21st century park. The project was opened to much acclaim by HRH Duke of Gloucester in Spring 2009 and has met with enormous public appreciation and affection. The historic core of the park had become an uninviting and largely unused place over the years and the regeneration has reversed this decline and brought in tens of thousands of new visitors.
The restoration has won three major awards; from BALI, The Georgian Group and The Landscape Institute.
