Welcome to the Lee Valley park website

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority has been awarded a Heritage Lottery Fund Grant of £487,500 for Myddelton House Gardens to complete elements of the Conservation Management Plan.

John Van Nost Ostriches

As part of the HLF funding two Ostrich statues dating back from the 1720's are being restored to their former glory and will be displayed in the new heritage centre The Ostriches are works by the younger Van Nost and have been placed in various positions around the gardens over the years. On May 29 2009 the restoration of one Ostrich was completed. Photographs have been taken to show the story of the restoration of the Ostriches and we hope to update them on a regular basis.

Over the next two years the following work is planned to be undertaken in the kitchen gardens:

• Renovation of the Potting Shed
• Renovation of Bowles original cold frames
• Rebuilding of the Peach House
• Developing the Kitchen Garden back to a Victorian Kitchen garden with vegetable patches and order beds
• Opening this closed part of the gardens to visitors

On other parts of the site further projects will be undertaken:

• Development of an improved visitor facility in the form of a museum themed refreshment facility. Telling the Bowles story in an open museum environment displaying artefacts, photographs and interpretation for the gardens, the history and information of Bowles times at Myddelton House. This will open up part of the stable block to the public for the first time. 
• Renovation of the Market Cross and other stonework and artefacts collected by Bowles.
• An oral history project and instillation of an audio guide.

On completion of the above projects this will enable the development and enhancement of the existing events programme, education programme and student training programme.