Trentham Gardens, Stoke-on-Trent

Background

Trentham Gardens Aerial

Trentham, a popular tourist venue over the past century, was acquired in 1996 from British Coal through Trentham Leisure (a joint venture with Mr Willi Reitz, a German wine and leisure entrepreneur). The 750-acre historic North Staffordshire estate is undergoing a £100m restoration to re-instate it as one of the UK’s leading visitor destinations. With the support of Stafford Borough Council, Staffordshire County Council, and neighbouring local authorities, outline planning consent was obtained for its restoration in 2003

Our Vision

Statue of Hygea

The restoration of the historic Italian gardens, designed and created in the 19th century by Sir Charles Barry, is the centrepiece of the proposed development that will create up to 1,000 jobs. Working closely with English Heritage, leading designers Dominic Cole, Tom Stuart-Smith and Piet Ouldof have been commissioned to restore and add contemporary flair to the historic gardens. In 2005 the Laurent-Perrier Trentham garden, designed by Tom Stuart-Smith, won a prestigious gold medal at the Chelsea Flower Show, evidencing the extremely high standards attained by this project. The garden’s attraction has been widened by including a children’s activity centre and a barefoot walking trail.

The buildings to the East of the Trent have been replaced by a 65,000 sq ft garden centre and a 68,000 sq ft shopping village – a further 67,000 sq ft remains to be developed. Additional innovative visitor attractions at the Southern end of the estate include a monkey forest with over 140 free roaming Barbary macaques, and an aerial extreme tree-top activity centre.

In 2007, a 120 bedroom 3 star Hotel is under construction and pre let to the Tulip Inn group with a free standing high quality restaurant both at the main entrance. Four shopping kiosks are being built in the Shopping Village and a new series of gardens designed by Piet Ouldof are being created. Further phases of the shopping village and other attractions such as a winery will be initiated in future years. The creation of a five star hotel from the ruins of Trentham Hall is planned as  the final element of the scheme.

In 2006 there were over 2m visitors to the estate, which is already recognised as a tourist and leisure destination of national significance.

CESR

Statue of Persues

The project is  a rare combination of  innovative commercial enterprise, job creation and environmental enhancement. The shopping village based on craft, heritage, and tourist retail  provides an innovative and diverse  shopping destination from established and new businesses, very different from the standard multiple-dominated shopping mall.

Over 500 jobs have already been created, and the original target of 1,000 jobs to be created, mainly for local people, often after re-skilling, appears eminently achievable. Additionally, the garden volunteers programme has provided an opportunity for 40 local people to acquire new horticultural skills under expert guidance. For 12 of the  volunteers, this programme has been part of a return-to-work and rehabilitation programme for people with special needs.

The garden centre at night

The estate, a large part of which is a SSSI, continues to embody the highest commitment to sustainable ecology. As well as the works in the gardens, an extensive programme of ecological restoration and management is being undertaken in the wooded areas, including control of non native and invasive species and the encouragement of the regeneration of the native woodland.

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