City Council scheme gets underway

(Date of issue: Tuesday, 28 October 2008)

Restoration work is now underway on Eden Bridge Garden, Stanwix.

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) recently awarded a grant of £50,000 to help the City Council restore the local site. The work will cost around £100,000, with the remaining funding provided by Carlisle City Council, who are seeking funding from other sources.

The scheme will see vital repairs, made to the rose pergolas and Lily ponds. The rock garden will be cut back and invasive species and weeds removed and the surrounding trees cut back to allow more light into the garden and create site lines through to the main Rose pergola. The steps, which connect the two raised terraces, are to be re-layed and the crazy paving paths re-pointed. The work is expected to take six months and will be undertaken by Carlisle City Council and specialist contractors.

Cllr Ray Bloxham, Portfolio holder for Environment & Infrastructure, said

Eden Bridge Garden, is commonly known as either the Italian or Chinese Gardens, and has been an established part of Carlisle for many decades. The Heritage Lottery funding has enabled us to give it a new lease of life and provide a glimpse of horticultural history for local residents to enjoy.

The Mayor of Carlisle, Councillor E.B Gray first opened the Garden in 1933. The construction of the gardens was undertaken by unemployed labour during the depression years of the 1930s under the supervision of the City Engineer, Percy Dalton.

Eden Bridge Garden was designed by Thomas H Mawson & Sons Ltd and constructed for a sum of just £3,450. This was possible because all the hard landscaping features within the garden were constructed from recycled materials. The white cove stone used to make the rest houses was taken from the old Eden Bridge parapets that were demolished during the bridge widening operations of 1930 to 1932. The sandstone used to build the retaining walls was taken from the old gaol in English Street and the crazy paving paths that run throughout the garden was taken from the old road, which used to pass over Eden Bridge.