Ashton Gardens is a Grade II listed garden on English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest. Situated in St Anne’s Town Centre, adjacent to St Anne’s Square the gardens cover 10 acres and comprise a number of historic buildings and display gardens.
The centre-piece of the project was the refurbished and re-sited Ashton Institute Building. It’s a colonial style pavilion, which during the refurbishment project was moved so it was situated between the lodge buildings on St George’s Road. This landmark building is to be used as a cafe
The East and West gate lodges were also restored and one turned into an information centre. These, coupled with the Ashton Institute and the reintroduction of metal railings as per the original park design, formed an impressive entrance to the park from St George’s Road, reminiscent of that of that which the parks original visitors would have seen. The war memorial in the heart of the park was also cleaned, repointed and lit. Extensive landscape work included improvements to the play area, drainage, paving, tree works and the replanting of each of the various display gardens.
Maysand worked with historic architects Donald Insall Associates to deliver the scheme which was funded via a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £1,436,000. Additional funding made the total project cost just under £2million.
Darren Bell, Head of Parks and Leisure Service, Fylde Borough Council says: “It was a real pleasure working with Maysand they were flexible, professional and accommodating. Throughout the project, every time we visited the site there were clear signs of real and significant progress. The firm tried to be as considerate as possible to everyone throughout the process.”
“Working with Maysand on the Ashton Gardens project was an excellent experience. The quality of the workmanship has been exceptional. I would have no hesitation in recommending them they are, without a doubt, one of the best companies I have personally worked with.”