RHS garden plans secure £5.5m boost

Plans by the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) to transform a historic site into its first garden in the North West have secured a £5.5m funding boost.The RHS Garden Bridgewater project in Salford involves regenerating a 157-acre site comprising the grounds of the former Worsley New Hall, which was built for the first Earl of Ellesmere in the 1840s.A grant of £5m has now been awarded to the RHS by the Garfield Weston Foundation to support the development of the historic walled garden and a grant of £500,000 by Arcadia, a charitable fund of Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin, to develop the garden’s lakes.The initial cost of creating the garden is set at £31.2m.The RHS has committed £14.2m to the project and Salford City Council has already committed to fund £5m towards onsite infrastructure costs. Fundraising continues with a target of £6.5m still to raise.