Berwick Parks
The Berwick Parks project is one of our most recent ‘Heritage Lottery Fund Parks for People’ projects, involving the restoration of two parks dating from the late 1920s – Coronation Park and Castle Vale Park.
Awards:
2015 - Green Flag Accreditation
TGP acted as lead consultant and landscape architect for both the successful development and delivery phases (RIBA Work Stages 3 – 6) and provided the Conservation Plan, Management and Maintenance Plan and Activity Plan.
The parks are situated on the River Tweed, located on either side of Berwick Station and Berwick Castle and are adjacent to the town’s historic walls within the Conservation Area.
The project involved considerable liaison with Northumberland County Council’s (NCC) Conservation Officer and English Heritage and included successfully scheduled monument consent.
The project also involved considerable community consultation involving local schools and young people, which resulted in Berwick Youth Project filming the development phase as a youth project
Project approach and deliverables:
- Extensive tree management and re-establishment of views to the Tweed Estuary and Border Bridge.
- Restoration of three shelters as focal points within the parks.
- Improving access and removing considerable barriers to access.
- Restoration of the lily pond and provision of a solar-powered pump system, as well as a natural, sustainable water circulation system.
- New entrances and stepped link to Berwick Station.
- Restoration of the pathway system and drainage.
- Restoration of the planting structure of the parks, reflecting their origins in the early 20th century.
- New interpretation strategy, rebranding and signage.
“The project has been a great success. It’s restored the parks to their former glory as areas that Berwick can be rightly proud of, and has provided a model of partnership working that can hopefully be replicated elsewhere in the county in the future.”
Mike Jeffrey, Green Spaces and Countryside Manager, Northumberland County Council
