A PLAN to restore part of Walton Gardens left crumbling for more than 20 years is almost complete.
The conservatory range in the park has been closed to the public since September 1993 and had fallen into disrepair, only staying standing due to temporary supporting beams and maintenance from rangers and volunteers of The Friends of Walton Estate.
But in 2016, Heritage Lottery money was secured to restore the glasshouses.
Three years later and that work has almost finished and it set to be formally reopened in September when it will be used by students.
Warrington Borough Council has formed a partnership with Myerscough College and Walton Lea to deliver apprenticeships, qualifications and opportunities for social enterprise.
Some of the work stations which will be used by students
When opened, the area will provide innovative teaching and training for young adults and people with disabilities, resulting in a range of pathways to increased wellbeing, work readiness, entrepreneurship and employment.
It will also be open to the public at certain points.
The transformation has required planning permission and attention to detail as the area is grade listed.
Contractors Rosslee Construction has spent 17 months on site restoring the buildings and that work is almost finished.
The conservatory range contains thousands of pieces of slender timber. During construction each piece of timber was removed, tagged to mark its original location and assessed for rot. To ensure the site remains structurally safe the original timber has been used internally and new timber has been used for the external, structurally significant beams.
The completed timber work on the conservatory
Nearly all the original ironwork has been repaired and reused. Through paint testing the ironwork a number of paint colours were found.
One of the most prominent colours, a powder blue, was chosen for the restoration.
The blue ironwork
The conservatory range’s brickwork was generally in very good condition and more than 90 per cent of the bricks are original and date from 1899-1910.
The walls have been dismantled brick by brick, cleaned, assessed for damage and rebuilt. The original lime mortar was analysed and a similar lime mortar has been used.
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