Yeovil Country Park, run by South Somerset District Council (SSDC) received a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for its V3 Project: inVolve, Visit, Volunteer in July 2015. One aspect of this grant is the restoration of the Victorian Valley Gardens of Ninesprings.
Starting in late January the rangers and volunteers have started the process of revealing the now mostly hidden heritage of the Valley Gardens.
Councillor Sylvia Seal, Portfolio Holder for Leisure & Culture said, “We are very excited about this fantastic opportunity to restore Ninesprings to its former glory. We will open up the lost views and vistas of the Valley Gardens and ensure that the streams and waterfalls continue to flow for many generations. The investment of the Heritage Lottery Fund has made this project possible and we hope many people will get involved along the way with building a site archive and delivery of practical works”.
Ninesprings originally belonged to the Batten Family and was part of the adjoining Aldon Estate. It was constructed as a pleasure garden during Victorian times; a garden designed for wandering along meandering paths among beautiful surroundings to enjoy gentle exercise and fresh air. The origin of the name is in the nine feature springs, waterfalls and grottos which were created, but there are many more than nine individual springs and the numbers vary throughout the year depending on the ground water levels. The cottage by the springs used to be run as a small café and many local people have happy childhood memories of eating cream teas or enjoying ice cream and lemonade. The cottage fell down during the last century but a carved otter bench now stands on the old site.
The built infrastructure of Ninesprings is over 100 years old and needs some specialist attention to protect it into the future. Some of the features and stonework has become very overgrown and over the next two years we will be working throughout the valley, along the course of the streams to gradually uncover and restore all the features which we find. Rangers will work with local volunteers to clear back overgrown vegetation, enabling structural repairs of the hamstone waterfalls, grottos, walls and paths to be carried out by specialists. Consideration will always be given to the habitats and wildlife of Ninesprings by the Countryside Rangers who will ensure a balanced approach to the work in this area. Vegetation management will take place in the winter months to prevent disturbance to nesting birds and wildlife and repairs to the stone work in the summer months. Due to the nature of this work some paths will need to be closed to the public for short periods of time.
As part of this project we are researching the history of Ninesprings and Yeovil Country Park. Becky Russell, Community Ranger is keen to hear from anyone that has stories or images to share with us as part of the project. “We would love to better understand what Ninesprings has meant to people over the years and also to build an archive for the future of images, stories and maps that will inform future generations enjoyment of the fabulous valley gardens. Please get in touch with me if you have items to share or would like to be involved in the project.”
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