Historic kitchen garden at Himley Hall ready for £57,000 restoration

Now the historic former attraction is to undergo a £57,000 restoration.

The walled garden at the 18th century mansion house between Kingswinford and Wombourne, once the family home of the Earls of Dudley, was designed by the renowned Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown.

The hall received regular royal patronage in its heyday. In 1934 the Duke and Duchess of Kent honeymooned at Himley and Edward VIII spent his last weekend as king there before his abdication.

But since the closure of the miniature railway in the 1990s the walled garden has fallen out of use.

Now Dudley Council, with the help of West Midlands Historic Buildings Trust, has succeeded in securing a new future for the site.

A £51,900 National Lottery grant, awarded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, combined with a £5,000 grant from the Architectural Heritage Fund have been negotiated to help develop proposals.

To kick start the project, the Historic Buildings Trust is keen to find out as much as possible about the history of the walled garden and is calling on residents for help.

Trust chairwoman Sue Whitehouse said “We are hoping that local people will still have some memories of the gardens which will help us build up a picture of what life was like before they fell into disuse.

"It would be great if we could find someone who actually worked in the gardens but we are also keen to hear from anyone who had relations who worked at the hall or gardens who may have shared their memories with family members.

"We would also be especially interested in any old photographs people would be willing to share with us."

Councillor Ian Kettle, Dudley Council cabinet member for planning and economic development, described the hall and its 180 acres of grounds as 'a jewel in the borough’s crown'.

He added: "In recent years the hall has been transformed and is now a beautiful setting for weddings and other functions.

"But there’s more work to do and we believe working with the West Midlands Historic Buildings Trust will provide an excellent opportunity to enhance a currently unused area of the site.”

It is the latest project for the West Midlands Historic Buildings Trust which recently transformed the once derelict Lye and Wollescote cemetery chapels into a new home for the Stourbridge Register Office.

Vanessa Harbar, head of the Heritage Lottery Fund, called the walled garden an 'important local landmark for future generations'.

She said: "With our support, this project will not only work towards a sustainable future for Himley Hall kitchen garden, but also capture the stories of its past.”