Adrian Wikely (Land Use Consultants), Rebecca Perry (Legal and General) and Cllr Adam De Save with Priory Park schoolchildren
The restored formal gardens in Priory Park, Reigate, have been officially opened to the public.
Children from Reigate Priory Junior School lent a hand by switching on the garden's newly renovated fountain.
Visitors to the park were treated to a talk by landscape architects Land Use Consultants and given a guided tour.
The restoration of the formal gardens forms part of Reigate & Banstead Borough Council's multi-million pound project to renovate and enhance Priory Park, backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund.
Cllr Adam De Save, executive member for leisure and wellbeing, said:
"The reinstatement of the formal gardens around the Priory building
forms a key part of our project to restore Priory Park's heritage.
"By returning the gardens to their earlier Victorian design, originally
introduced by Lady Henry Somerset who owned Reigate Priory between 1883
and 1905, we have created a more suitable setting for the Grade I
Listed Priory. A number of the garden's key historical features have
also been restored or reinstated, including the monumental fountain.
"I am sure visitors to the park will agree that the Sunken Gardens, Tea
Garden and Monks Walk now provide a beautiful setting and once the new
planting becomes more established the gardens will really be seen at
their best."
