Over 300 local residents visited the Castle on May Bank Holiday
Monday. Only 600 invitations were sent out, so the response was
remarkable. Many came with memories of the castle before its
dereliction and one lady remembered leaving for her wedding from the
stables where she lived as a young woman. Over 100 guests signed up
to join our free "Friends" programme.
Visitors were invited to follow a route through the gardens, past
the ruin and back to the former lawns, now covered with concrete and
empty chicken sheds. On the route we displayed pictures of the
Edwardian gardens before they were abandoned.
The vast majority who completed a questionnaire would like to see
the Castle and Gardens owned and operated by a charity for public
benefit. But a number of people are concerned about the potential
impact of traffic. The numbers currently envisaged are similar to
the former Leisure Park so it is hoped that the impact will be no
greater, but we do recognise that this a concern which we will
address.
Bryan Gray, Jim Lowther and Charles Woodhouse were on hand to
represent the Trustees and Andy Theobald of Feilden Clegg Bradley
(Architects) listened to the views of several guests. The Lowther
Estate has just given the go-head for the removal of the chicken
sheds and the digging up of the concrete that was laid by the army
in the 1940s. This will begin before the end of June. We
are planning another open day in September when we will
present more detailed plans for the Castle and Gardens. As soon as
the date is confirmed we will get in touch.
Readers of this newsletter will know that the previous proposals for
the Castle and Gardens did not secure lottery funding but even the
assessors who declined our application want to see the Castle and
Gardens open and accessible but we have got to come up with the
right plan. Before getting into the new designs we sat down with a
business planning advisor (the same one who torpedoed the Big
Lottery application) and looked at our options. We considered every
scenario from the bare minimum to a fully developed restoration
plan. We looked at the economic sustainability of each option. The
process was exhaustive but it gave a useful degree of realism to the
design team.
The new design team is led by
Feilden Clegg Bradley
(Architects) in conjunction with
Dan Pearson Studio
(Landscape Design). Both practices were selected for their
imaginative but sensitive approach to the project. Dan is well known
to garden enthusiasts for his romantic and naturalistic approach to
garden design and through his weekly column in the Observer. Feilden
Clegg Bradley are best know to Cumbrians for their highly successful
Sizergh Castle visitor centre. They have an outstanding conservation
track record but they also have exciting contemporary credentials
which attracted them to the Trustees. The other key member of the
design team are
Baker Mallett
(Cost Consultants) and Taylor Hardy (Planning Advisors) and the
Landscape Agency
in York. It is priority for us to make best possible use of the
previous work and we have access to all the existing reports and
drawings. This will make the whole design process quick and
efficient.
The NWDA are funding the development of new proposals for the castle
and gardens. The Lowther Estate is continuing work to stop the ruin
from falling down with support from English Heritage. There are
still a number of funding opportunities available and each funding
body has different priorities. It can be tempting to allow the
design to be led by the funding but this usually results in a bland
concept that satisfies everyone and excites nobody. Our plan is to
come up with a vision that is really exciting, truly original and
which has real economic benefits for Cumbria, then we can approach
funders.
In August this year the architects and landscape designers will
present new design proposals to our Trustees. We will share these
ideas with local residents, "Friends" across Cumbria and the Lowther
Estate who will be giving the Castle and Gardens to the charity
(Registered No.1125075). When we have consulted on these ideas and
when we have developed a robust business case that demonstrates real
public benefit, we will submit a planning application for the new
scheme. At the same time we will take our proposals to potential
funders. These will include Cumbria Vision, The Heritage Lottery
Fund, ERDF, English Partnerships and English Heritage. Its our aim
to secure conditional commitments from funders by the end of the
year.
The Lowther Castle & Gardens Trust would like to say thank you
to everyone who made the Lowther Castle & Gardens open day a
great success. We would like to take the opportunity to say a
special thank you to the following people:
Claire Bland Abbotts Jersey Ice Cream
Katy Edgar Katy Edgar Catering
Jane Sebire Photography. Top image, right images
1st, 2nd & 5th Copyright © Jane Sebire
Val Corbett Photography
Lowther Forestry, Farms and Projects Site preparation
Tom, Josh, Christa and Peter Traffic control
