Warley Place
Restored Grade II listed features to reconnect communities to local heritage
National Highways’ Lower Thames Crossing project gave £156,000 to Essex Wildlife Trust to restore, preserve and repair surviving structures at the Grade II Registered Garden at Warley Place.
Warley Place, south of Brentwood in Essex is a 25-acre nature reserve and walled garden which is a Grade II registered historic site of national importance. It’s home to many important veteran trees, as well as two meadows, ponds and wildlife.
The renowned horticulturalist Ellen Willmott, one of the UK’s most influential, naturalists, horticulturalists and garden designers lived at Warley Place with her family and gardened there from 1876-1934. It is now maintained as a nature reserve by Essex Wildlife Trust.
What has been done?
- the East and West Ha-ha’s - a type of sunken wall or fence that was commonly used in landscaped gardens and parks in the 18th century
- sections of the historic conservatory
- the walled garden, eastern extension and boundary wall
- brickwork across the site
The Lower Thames Crossing project is investing more than £900,000 working in partnership with Essex Wildlife Trust, to deliver projects which will create new habitats and restore heritage features across the region.
"The National Highways funding has been so important, because the historic brickwork for the walled gardens, ha ha’s and conservatory needed a lot of work to preserve them, but also to enhance the visitors experience as they really be with nature and get a feel what the historic garden was like."Zoe Ringwood, Head of Conservation Evidence, Essex Wildlife Trust Ltd
