Welcome
Welcome to our blog, which is dedicated to Cedars Park in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire.
In 2008 Broxbourne Council intends to submit a bid to the Parks for People Programme to repair, conserve and improve Cedars Park. Parks for People is a programme to improve our national parks and public spaces and is jointly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund.
You can read more about the proposal online here or you can download the pdf here
To be successful in the bid the Council needs your messages of support . Please register and post your messages of support on our forum.
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Letter of support
In 2008 Broxbourne Council intends to submit a bid to the Parks for People Programme to repair, conserve and improve Cedars Park. Parks for People is a programme to improve our national parks and public spaces and is jointly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Big Lottery Fund.
To be successful in the bid the Council needs your messages of support
Please demonstrate that you, the public, actively agree with what the Council is trying to acheive and how it could benefit you or your organisation.
Proposals include:
- Relocation and upgrade of the cafe, toilets, and the provision of a community meeting and education room.
- New play activities and events appropriate to the park's landscape and history.
- Creation of an accessible interpretative tour around the park.
- Use the restoration of historic pathways to reveal the archaeology of the palace and its grounds.
- Renewal and replacement of park furniture to create a unified visual appearance.
- Relocation of the car park to a less sensitive location thinning and management of areas of dense trees and shrubberies to reopen historic views and protect archaeology.
- Repair and restorationof the historic brick walls.
- Replanting of avenue and specimen trees lost from the existing landscape.
- Improved pedestrian routes to, and around, the park.
- Improved screening of the car park and native woodland planting alongside major highways.
Please post your messages on this forum or send your messages and letters of support to Clare Watson, Community Services Strategy and Projects Manager, Bishops' College, Churchgate, Cheshunt EN8 9XF or email clare.watson@broxbourne.gov.uk by Monday 17th March.
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Executive Summary
Cedars Park is a small but highly significant historic public park located on the edge of Cheshunt and Waltham Cross in the Borough of Broxbourne.The park is popular and well-maintained, but there is a recognised need to improve the conservation and appreciation of its important historic features, and the quality of facilities for visitors and local residents.
This Conservation Management Plan has been produced to address these issues and forms part of a bid for funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery Fund Parks for People initiative.
The plan, commissioned by Broxbourne Borough Council, with support from Parks for People, demonstrates both the historic and present importance of the park:
Half the park is a scheduled ancient monument, being the site of a magnificent and influential Tudor house with extensive grounds, created by the leading architects, gardeners and craftsmen for Sir William Cecil, becoming a de facto occasional palace for Elizabeth I. Elements of the present park can be identified as probable or possible parts of the original Tudor or Stuart gardens.
- On his accession, James I persuaded Sir Robert Cecil to exchange Theobalds for Hatfield House, so that it became a true Royal Palace. James I dramatically extended the park and accommodation.As a Royal Palace, it was the scene of great state occasions, from a masque by Ben Jonson to the raising of the Royal Standard by Charles I at the start of the Civil War.
- After asset stripping and partial demolition, Theobalds was occupied by a puritanical military governor of Hertfordshire, and by non-conformists and Presbyterians, transforming Theobalds into a little Commonwealth, later the home of two influential Presbyterian theologians.
The park includes parts of three surviving eighteenth century gentry gardens, including a fine flint arch grotto and water garden.
- It is a popular green space for quiet recreation and enjoyment by the local urban community, initiated as a public park by philanthropic gift.
- The park is an established venue for social, community and volunteer events and activities, but also a key asset for community regeneration for the more deprived wards in the Borough.
Problems
However, Cedars Park is not without its problems:
- a recent past history of anti-social behaviour and damage has been resolved recently by significant Council investment in site staff, a resident park manager, CCTV and security cover;
- the low quality of park facilities, toilets and café, and the lack of play facilities for children;
- the car park is inadequate for visitors and overlies the core of the scheduled monument;
- the major historic interest of the site is poorly interpreted and largely concealed;
- there are some disused parts of buildings and Tudor brick walls which require extensive conservation and repairs;
- sustainable means of access by cycle, footpath, and rail are not clearly promoted, some paths are in poor condition, and barriers to access include dual carriageway roads on two sides;
- the park lacks a clear sense of identity through the historic loss of buildings, past mineral workings, lack of interpretation and proximity to busy roads.
Conservation Management Plan
The conservation management plan sets out a number of proposals to address these weaknesses, and to improve both the quality and the capacity of Cedars Park for free public access and enjoyment. Physical improvements are shown on the park masterplan but other changes which are proposed include:
- dedicated investment and effort to maintain and develop the consultation processes and local community involvement in the management of the park;
- partnerships with local volunteers, social and commercial businesses;
- improved interpretation, signage, accessibility and events, so that the park gives a wider welcome;
- an enhanced events programme which reveals some of the history of the park;
- increased involvement with local schools around the park, and through outreach work in local communities.The role of Sir William Cecil as both QueenMazes and
- waterMountainJames I’s menagerie and game park, with camels,The asset-stripping of a great palace, and occupationA Victorian schoolboy’s view of the gardens at
Interpretation
Interpretation will focus on a number of key messages arising from the history of the park:
- The role of Sir William Cecil as both Queen Elizabeth’s chief minister and one of England’s greatest statesmen, but also a passionate patron of literature, horticulture and architecture.
- Mazes and water gardens; revelry in the garden and Ben Jonson’s masque.
- Mountain Jennings, gardener to Sir Robert Cecil and James I, keeper of the Royal silkworms, and provider of the king’s fruit.
- James I’s menagerie and game park, with camels, elephant and flying squirrels.
- The asset-stripping of a great palace, and occupation by Cromwell’s soldiers and non-conformist preachers.
- A Victorian schoolboy’s view of the gardens at Theobald’s Square.
Proposals
- the relocation and upgrade of the café, toilets, and the provision of a community meeting and education room
- new play activities and events appropriate to the park’s landscape and its history
- the creation of an accessible interpretative tour around the park
- use the restoration of historic pathways to reveal the archaeology of the palace and its grounds
- renewal and replacement of park furniture to create a unified visual appearance
- relocation of the car park to a less sensitive location
- thinning and management of areas of dense trees and shrubberies to reopen historic views and protect archaeology
- repair and restoration of the historic brick walls
- replanting of avenue and specimen trees lost from the existing landscape
- improved pedestrian routes to and around the park
- improved screening of the park and native woodland planting alongside major highways.
Where practical, the Ordnance Survey map of 1935 forms the guide for physical improvements to the park, as this records the last complete phase of the designed public park landscape.However this has to be supplemented by a significantly improved understanding of the historic and archaeological importance of the site, and the scope to interpret the history of the park through planting, management and maintenance.
This report also includes, in outline, management and maintenance proposals which detail how the long term values of the park will be sustained and enhanced through landscape maintenance, holistic administration and community involvement.
Funding
The plan sets out the costings of the proposals including an outreach officer and allowances for inflation, fees, and improved maintenance, totalling some £3.3 million over three years. It is proposed to meet these costs with a grant application to the Heritage Lottery Fund and Big Lottery for £2 million; partnerships and involvement with the local businesses and volunteers; and capital funding by Broxbourne Borough Council.
Timing
The plan is a draft of the Conservation Management Plan, to be revised following a public consultation process, and will be submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund, seeking support for the next stage, the development stage, including detail surveys, archaeology, detail plans, further local consultation and consents.This information would then be submitted to support a full grant for restoration. If successful, this whole process is likely to take about two years before works would start on the ground.The works would be spread over a three year programme.
If you require further information, please call Clare Watson on 01992 785555 www.broxbourne.gov.uk
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