Pump Room Gardens, Royal Leamington Spa

In 2008 the Leamington Society and CLARA (the Central Leamington Residents’ Association) joined forces to raise funds to restore the Victorian arches in the Pump Room Gardens in Leamington.  In 1875 eight arches had been erected in the Pump Room Gardens; by the end of 2008 the remnants of only two survived. Two more amenity societies, the Royal Leamington Buildings Conservation Trust and the Warwickshire Gardens Trust, joined the project. Representatives from the four societies formed a steering group (the Friends of the Pump Room Gardens) to promote the project.

Warwick District Council agreed to contribute £40,000 provided the Friends raised the remainder of the funds needed, about £80,000. This has now been done and manufacturing started; the firm doing most of the work is Worrall’s Engineering whose premises are only a few miles from the gardens. The crowns will be gilded by a business in Old Town, Leamington.

The arches, known as the Linden Arches because they are under an avenue of lime trees, will be ready in time for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has awarded a grant to the Friends to study the gardens.  Working with a team of volunteers the Friends have produced a report on the history of the gardens since their creation in 1814, and their present use.  The Pump Room Gardens are the village green of Leamington and the report also suggests ways in which the gardens might be improved.  This study, referred to known as a Conservation Statement, has been submitted to Warwick District Council which owns the gardens.

The project promotes knowledge of the gardens’ history across Warwick District and throughout Warwickshire.  This part of the project, led by the Heritage Learning team at Warwickshire County Council, is working with local primary school children and seeks reminiscences about the gardens from local people.