2012

The French Parterre was restored to reflect Earl de Grey’s original intricate design following a full area excavation which revealed the original arrangement of beds and gravel. Much of the intricate detail had been lost in the early 20th century when the parterre were simplified for ease of maintenance. The ornamental dairy was also restored and put to use as a sculpture gallery, housing garden ornaments that were too valuable or fragile to be left out in the garden.

^{The French Parterre during excavation}

2013

Following archaeological investigations and detailed research, the design and planting in the Evergreen Garden was restored to its appearance in the mid-19th century. It was replanted with acid-loving plants commonly found in North America. These were highly fashionable when Earl de Grey created the garden in 1857.


^{The restored Evergreen Garden}

2012–14

Ladies Lake was repaired to prevent water leakage and the paths surrounding it reinstated based on a Country Life photograph from 1904. The historic yew boundary hedges were replanted, restoring the lake’s secluded feel. In 2012 the statue of Diana with Greyhound was reinstated in position at the head of Ladies Lake after being purchased at auction.


^{Following repairs, the gardens team removing algae before Ladies Lake was refilled}

2016

The Chinese Temple was conserved and paths throughout the North East Great Garden, lost over time, were reinstated. This included those around the Graeco-Roman altars and ‘Capability’ Brown column. Following detailed research, the area was replanted with shrubs and flowering plants representing planting phases from the 1760s through to the changes made in the 1820s and 1830s.


^{The Chinese Pavillion following restoration}

2017

Thomas Archer’s magnificent baroque pavilion, built in 1709–11, underwent a major programme of restoration work in 2016–17 to weatherproof the dome and protect the painted interior by Mark Anthony Hauduroy. The next step will be to restore the painted trompe l’oeil decoration (an artistic technique that creates an optical illusion of three-dimensional space).

^{The Archer Pavilion during restoration}

2019

The bath house garden required detailed archival and archaeological research to understand the different phases of its development but also to understand the complex hydrology of this very damp area fed by chalybeate springs. We were able to reinstate the historic path layout based on map and archaeological evidence, and the surrounding landscape was replanted to reflect the original planting, including early 19th-century rhododendrons and other evergreens. The network of drains and waterways were also dredged and repaired so that water once again runs through the system and flows beneath the rustic bridge.

^{The bath house garden in 2016 before its reconstruction}

2022

The cascade and bridge near the bath house was restored, and the Victorian and Edwardian fernery replanted, informed by a photograph from 1908 in the Gardeners’ Chronicle. Rocks from the bridge parapet that fallen into the waterway below were reinstated.

^{The bath house in winter 2022, following its restoration}