Historical Enfield garden at Myddleton House given heritage status (From Enfield Independent)

Historical Enfield garden at Myddleton House given heritage status

8:10am Friday 30th July 2010

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A BEAUTIFUL Enfield garden has been recognised for its historical importance.

Myddelton House Gardens, in Lee Valley Regional Park, was granted Green Heritage Site status as part of the Keep Britain Tidy Green Flag Awards scheme.

The gardens have undergone extensive restoration work in the past year, including reshaping of hedges and clearing overgrown areas, and restoration of a water feature and cold frames.

The house was home to E. A. Bowles, who died in 1954 and devoted much of his life to the creation of the garden.

An enthusiastic collector and accomplished plantsman, Mr Bowles grew many unusual varieties of flora and fauna, several of which can still be seen in the garden today.

Archaelogical digs at Myddelton House have unearthed structural remains, including a suspected part of Bowling Green House, which was demolished in the 1820s.

A more recent evaluation in March 2005 revealed some dressed limestone and a large amount of bottle glass, a part of which may have dated from 1680.

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority shared in Myddelton House Gardens' success by retaining all eight of its Green Flag Awards, which recognise excellent green spaces.

Senior gardener Bryan Hewitt paid tribute to the work of the estate's fifth head gardener, Andrew Turvey. Mr Turvey joined last August, 100 years after the first head gardener in 1909.

He said: "This award is a reflection of the efforts of the new head gardener, who is just radioactive with ideas.

"He has achieved an enormous amount. He has restored much of the garden back to the original design and even found pathways in the alpine meadow that we didn't know existed.

"We are all very motivated and happy in our work and this award is a reflection of that."

The Authority’s award-winning open spaces are spread throughout the 10,000-acre regional park, which stretches 26 miles along the River Lee from Ware in Hertfordshire to East India Dock Basin on the Thames.

Vivien Blacker, director of leisure and environment at Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, said: “We are delighted to have all eight of our Green Flag Awards renewed and two of our sites recognised for their Green Heritage status.

"This sustained success is the result of a great deal of hard work from our dedicated staff.

"The feedback will allow us to strive for continuous improvement and the very highest standards across all our sites and venues.”

The Green Flag sites will join Lee Valley Regional Park’s eight "Sites of Special Scientific Interest", including Lee Valley Athletics Centre, in Enfield.

The Green Flag Award recognises and rewards the best green spaces in the country and is given on an annual basis.

It is the only national standard for parks and green spaces in England and Wales.

The Green Heritage accreditation, sponsored by English Heritage, is given to sites with local or national historic importance.

For more information visit www.keepbritaintidy.org/GreenFlag/.

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