About the Pump Room Gardens
Located in the heart of Leamington Spa, The Pump Rooms Gardens were laid out between 1844 and 1903 and are designated as Grade II on the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. Approx 5.5 acres in size, the gardens are now maintained by Warwick District Council as a valuable area of open space, taking on the role of the “village green” for informal recreation and enjoyment of local people and visitors to the town. A wide and divers range of community activities take place in the gardens throughout the year including fun fairs, the annual Peace Festival and the popular Food and Drink Festival each September.
The Gardens contain the historic features of the bandstand, original footpath layout, pedestrian bridge over the River Leam and the remaining arches that once formed the Linden Walk.
Restoration
The Gardens have recently been the focus of work to rejuvenate a number of the features of the Gardens. An approach from local residents lead to the formation of the Friends of the Pump Room Gardens to work with Warwick District Council on a series of projects based in the Gardens including the improvement of the riverbank area and the restoration of the Linden Arches.
The riverbank work has been completed with the planting of additional reed beds to offer protection to the river bank and improve the wildlife habitat of the area; thinning out of vegetation where it had become overgrown to open up views of the river, and the planting of more appropriate native shrubs.
Linden Arches
The ambitious project to restore the Linden Arches is now well underway thanks to the generous donations of local people and businesses who have added to funding from the District Council. This has allowed the commissioning of 8 new arches that we hope will be installed by the end of 2011. For more information on this project or to make a donation please contact:
Archie Pitts, Chairman, Friends of the Royal Pump Room Gardens: archiepitts@gmail.com
Education project
Alongside the Linden Arches project is a project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The project focuses on Conservation, Awareness, Education and public participation and is being led by a project board with a team of local volunteers. The project commenced in March 2011, and will work in partnership with local schools, Warwickshire County Council and Warwick District Council (Arts and Heritage teams), and local residents. Details of meetings, workshops and events will be publicised or contact:
Alaina Macgregor, County Records Office alainamacgregor@warwickshire.gov.uk
or
Peter Storrie, Friends of the Pump Room Gardens peter.storrie@ntlworld.com
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