27 Jul Harlow Museum Walled Gardens restoration project underway
A project to restore the historic Grade II listed walls at the Harlow Museum and Walled Gardens is underway.
Harlow Council is working with Messenger, a company that specialises in the conservation and repair of historic buildings and monumental sculpture, to undertake the works.
The project began with the wall facing First Avenue, removing the old mortar and damaged bricks before replacements are inserted and the mortar made good. This section has now been completed and works are now underway in the 17th Century Garden and the Unusual Fruit Garden.
The works will be an ‘honest repair’, meaning that the areas where repairs have been made stand out bright and clean from the older brick work to give an idea of how the lime mortar would have looked hundreds of years ago when the walls were first built.
The works have also required the removal of our resident hive of honeybees who had made their home in a cavity in the walls. They were safely removed by bee removal specialists, who will house them for the rest of the summer before being passed on to other beekeepers.
Although museum staff will miss these residents of the garden, the specialists advised that their removal would allow different species of bees, which tend to be more threatened like solitary and bumble bees, to make use of the garden resources, increasing the gardens overall biodiversity.
Councillor Danielle Brown, Cabinet Portfolio Holder for Community and Wellbeing, said:
“This project is all part of investing in and improving our much-loved community services and there are further works planned. The Museum is in a beautiful setting surrounding by magnificent gardens. This specialist project will ensure the garden walls are safe and in good repair for many years to come.”
The project is due to be completed in November 2024.
