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Progress Report Roundup |
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| Three years ago, when I
launched this website, I would have warned people intending to visit
Derby Arboretum, to do so with caution.
Now Heritage Lottery money has made it possible to re-generate, revitalise and restore what must be one of the nation's most important treasures and landmarks, England's first public park and the world's first purpose built Arboretum (by the 20th Century dictionary definition, as defined by J. C. Loudon 1832). The Arboretum is now a place that can once again be enjoyed by the majority of the local residents and will be of interest to visitors from across the country and from distant shores. The refurbishment has now entered its final stages. The work is of an excellent quality, the trees and shrubberies are of a good standard and the old buildings restoration is of an excellent high standard. Photographs can only go so far to show the standards achieved. There are some concerns regarding seats and vases, and it has been observed that the Heart of The Park building would appear to have had a lot of money wasted on re-pointing and re-laying the paving - several times! Hopefully we can rectify these inaccuracies over the next few years. The Arboretum now bears a reasonably close resemblance to the original plan requested by Joseph Strutt and delivered by John Claudius Loudon. But you MUST come an see for yourself, you can contact the web author regarding future plans for guided tours.
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| Grove Street Entrance
Loudon's GRAND ENTRANCE This is again regarded as the main entrance to The Arboretum. |
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The Excellent New Grand Entrance Gates - Completed |
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Rose Hill Entrances |
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| There are now two
entrances into the Arboretum from the Rose Hill Recreation Ground.
The main Rose Hill entrance passes between the Heart of the Park building and the toilet and changing room block. A secondary entrance is by the Reginald Street to Madeley Street path (Photograph - above)
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Florentine Boar The up-lighting is now in place at the remaining base of the original plinth. The original plinth is in storage at the council depot, but requires repair due to vandal damage it suffered several years ago. |
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| The council Have
now commissioned a local engineering firm to cast a new boar in bronze
at a cost of 20,000.
This website had recommended the Florentine Foundry where many such copies have been made from the original Renaissance statue, and where they have one ready for collection. Click here for details It is hoped that the replica plinth will be an exact copy of the original, but given the failure to maintain accuracy of other furniture, this is doubtful. We have been informed that the statue will be in place by Spring 2005. |
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What is this strange looking sculpture at the Grove Street Entrance Triangle? |
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Some of the printable comments that have been made include: Pumpkin, Black Pudding, Tribal Mask?. Opinion This sculpture has no apparent relevance or historical reference to the Arboretum. The circa 12, 000 cost of this should have been used to restore some of the original statues. |
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Click HERE for more about this object and how to comment |
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Though we now have a collection of Victorian style urns, (Vases, as urns in fact have a lid) many of the original designs, though readily available have not been replaced. |
New vases have now been placed at the main path junctions |
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| NOTE:
Similar items, though more ornate, are available from a Derby city centre store at 39.95 each. |
Fluted Cast Iron Urn/Vase
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Ornate Cast Iron Vase typical of the Victorian Funereal style found in cemeteries |
| The original Arboretum furniture was a collection of specific styles of urns, vases, seats and statues. Copies of the exact designs originally placed in the Arboretum are available from some high quality reliable sources, and have been located during the unpaid research carried out for this website. Why was this not carried out by the refurbishment project's consultants? | ||
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Left is an actual Loudon styled urn from Birmingham Botanic Gardens. Note the ornate design depicting Greco/Roman period art. This item stands at about 1.7 metres high and is made from heavy cast iron. These items are available from specialist suppliers and would have been more representative or Loudon's design ideas.
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compare original with new HERE New Seats Installed These rather fragile seats are supposed to be representative of the original seating. The original Loudon Plan stipulated that there should be seating for 350 people. Each original seat would have seated up to four people. |
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The original seats installed in 1840, were designed by Joseph Strutt and made of wood. Ornate cast iron seats were installed later, (circa 1880-1900) see example below. |
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Ornate cast iron seats used since the 1880s, as shown above, (from an 1889 photo) These are still available from a specialist suppliers based in Coventry. |
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