Scarborough's South Cliff Gardens restoration project gets underway

The restoration project, that starts this week is jointly funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund, and aims to preserve the gardens’ unique heritage and improve them in a way that will reconnect them with today’s residents and visitors, in the same way that the original gardens did more than one hundred years ago.

Cllr Tony Randerson, Scarborough Borough Council cabinet member for Neighbourhoods and Cllr Jim Grieve, Scarborough Borough Council cabinet member for Quality of Life said: “We are delighted that work to restore these wonderful heritage gardens, which hold a very special place in the hearts of generations of residents and visitors, gets underway this week.

“Together with our previous multi-million scheme to stabilise the cliffs, this exciting project will reignite people’s love for the gardens and make them more accessible for all.

“New facilities will sit sensitively alongside restored heritage features, which will ensure the gardens’ importance in Scarborough’s history is kept alive and relevant for many more decades to come.”

The work will be completed in four stages, starting with the construction of the new community building, which local people have affectionately names ‘Beeforth’s Hive’ after George Lord Beeforth who was instrumental in shaping the gardens.

The next three stages will involve work such as the restoration of the Clock Tower and Italian steps. The final stage will be the reopening of the tunnel under the cliff lift and the construction of a new play area.

The whole project is due to be completed in April 2022 when the local community group is looking forward to hosting an opening event.

The council was successfully awarded a grant of £4,665,700 towards the cost of the project by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and Community Fund as part of their Parks for People joint initiative, and has itself contributed £2,041,000.

This was added to money generously raised by the local South Cliff community and ‘in kind’ contributions to complete the funding of the £7.158m project.

David Auton, Chair of the South Cliff Community Group, said: “Members of the South Cliff Community group and all local residents and visitors will be delighted to hear that works on the South Cliff Gardens are at last about to start.

"After many months of uncertainty in difficult times, this news will shine a light for everyone.

“We will all take enormous pleasure watching the various phases, in the knowledge that the efforts we put in during the fund raising stages have created what is truly a

community based project.

“These gardens are going to give many years of pleasure to so many residents and visitors and will leave generations with very happy memories.”