Park restoration plan revived

GUNNERSBURY Park’s restoration scheme is back on thanks to Highways England funds.

In 2009, eight of the listed buildings in the 185-acre west London park were placed on Historic England’s Heritage At Risk Register.

The valuable buildings in the park, which is part of both Ealing and Hounslow boroughs, include two mansions and several stables, which have housed royalty, noblemen and even the immensely rich Rothschild banking family, who sold it to Ealing and Acton Council for £130,000 in 1925, or just under £5.5 million in today’s money.

The estate was halved, with 80 acres being used to build homes in the housing shortage after the First World War, while Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain opened the remaining acres of the estate as a public park.

The large mansion houses Gunnersbury Museum and was painstakingly restored in 2018 during phase one of the 14-year restoration masterplan laid out in 2012.

However, funds for the small mansion and stables’ restoration was not available for phase two of the scheme.

Now, money from an unlikely source, Highways England, has come to the rescue.

Drawn from a ring-fenced fund for reducing the road network’s impact on the historic environment, it aims to develop the cultural and artistic facilities at Gunnersbury.

The agency first put up £90,000 for specialist surveys to be carried out, with Historic England adding £280,000.

However, now an additional £250,000 has been designated from the fund towards the cost of specialist surveys of the small mansion and stables buildings. Historic England has also donated a further £203,000.

Costs for Gunnersbury phase two have now been fully raised, meaning work can begin on the project to revive the park.

Construction is expected to begin in 2021-22 and will last “several years”.

Phase three of the scheme involves improving sports facilities at the park, with a new multi-million pound sports hub offering regular tennis, football, cricket, gym activities and even angling to local people.

Emily Gee, Historic England’s regional director for London and the south-east, said: “These special historic buildings within Gunnersbury

Park have been derelict for decades and it’s wonderful that they are set to be transformed into cultural and arts facilities for the local community. We are delighted that Highways England’s funding has helped to secure the future of this precious landscape, together with the commitment of Ealing and Hounslow councils.”

Councillor Julian Bell, Leader of Ealing Council, said: “Securing this funding is a really significant step in our ongoing commitment to restore the unique heritage of Gunnersbury Park and ensure local people of all ages benefit from this beautiful and educational historic gem on their doorstep.

“A great deal of work has already gone into the painstaking restoration of Gunnersbury Park’s buildings, grounds and landscape.

“This ambitious, multi-million pound project is bringing the park’s past and future together with stateof-the-art sports facilities alongside its historically significant buildings.”