Quest for Lottery funding to revive mill owner’s gardens

Following a successful initial bid by Bradford Council, work is under way developing a full bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the park.

Surveys are taking place and the design team is working up draft proposals and costings, for consideration when the bid is submitted in August.

Bradford Council aims to use the grant funding, which could be as much as £3.3m, to restore the most significant landscape features, improve links between the house and the grounds and run a programme of activities and events to increase the educational value of the park.

The gardens of Cliffe Castle were created by wealthy mill owner Henry Isaac Butterfield in the 1870s. It is home to many attractive historical features including a series of cascading terraces, two ornamental fountains, pond, rockeries, a grotto, an isolated tower and an ancient highway called Dark Lane.

A consultation event will be held in the conservatory at Cliffe Castle Museum on March 16 and 17. Draft designs will be on display and members of the design team and the Cliffe Castle Park Conservation Group will be available to answer questions between 11am and 4pm on both days.

Questionnaires will be available for people to record their view of how the re-development should proceed.

Anyone wanting to find out more can log on to the web site www.cliffecastlepark.org.uk