Mulberry Garden Project Gets Funding Boost

Learning Centre in Hogarth's House to be given developer levy cash

The Mulberry Garden Project at Hogarth’s House in Chiswick has received a boost after being awarded funding from money raised from developers and from the Council Leader's Green Fund.

£25,000 is to be given from Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funds which are given as a condition of planning permission.

The same amount is being given from the Leader's Green Fund to sipport works at the garden.

The project will rejuvenate the dilapidated garden of Hogarth’s House, Chiswick and create a new accessible, multi-purpose learning centre to relieve pressure on the fabric of the listed house and to deliver group, school activities and events.

The scheme qualified for funding because it is deemed to be a significant heritage asset and it is planning to bring back into community use an unused green space in a built up area. The creation of the Learning Centre and the Activities and Events plan will provide greater heritage, leisure and education opportunities for the local community which also helped the bid to qualify.

The scheme would create a new garden which presents aspects of its whole history since the 1680s and would see the construction of a learning centre in a corner of the garden.

The funding allocation will allow the scheme to unlock funding from the Heritage Lottery. Ultimate just under £1million could be made available for the project which is a joint initiative of Hounslow Council, which is legally the trustee of the House, and the William Hogarth Trust, which promotes interest in Hogarth and supports the House.

The garden began life as a 17th century orchard, from which a mulberry tree still survives, and was artist William Hogarth’s family garden from 1749 to 1808. Amongst other residents were a poet, an actor, a Victorian pig-keeper and nursery gardeners. It has welcomed the public as visitors since 1904.

A team of volunteers of all ages will be trained, whose role will be to care for the garden in the future and to share in its interpretation. The project takes as its symbol the ancient mulberry tree in the garden, which is almost as famous as the House. Recent research indicates that the tree may date from the 1680s, when the Downes family enclosed a plot from Chiswick Common Field, building the brick wall and planting a mixed orchard.

April 7, 2018