Issue 35 autumn 2022 - Flipbook - Page 80
Restoration of Birmingham
Botanical Gardens’ historic
bandstand complete
The historic, Grade II listed bandstand at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens has been restored
to its former 1874 glory after six months of painstaking work by conservation specialists.
The local landmark, which sits in the Gardens’ Grade II*
listed 15-acre grounds in Edgbaston, has been completely
transformed, following a 12-month fundraising campaign
that raised £138,000.
Liz Frostick, development director at the charity, said it
will be used as a platform for live music, weddings, other
events, such as heritage and horticultural tours, and as an
all-weather outdoor space for school groups.
Extensive work included reinstating some original
features – including the colour scheme, as well as restoring
the roof and lead, timbers, brickwork, mouldings, gold
finials and acoustic screen. There have also been sympathetic adaptations, such as new steps.
“The bandstand looks stunning and we’re absolutely
thrilled with the quality of the restoration work, which
takes it back to its heyday, when it was first designed by
distinguished Birmingham architect FB Osborn,” she said.
The bandstand, where Neville Chamberlain gave his first
public speech as Prime Minister in 1937 and was later used
as an air raid shelter in the Second World War, has been
named The Peter Sowerby Bandstand, following a
substantial donation from The Peter Sowerby Foundation.
“It is a real testament to the expertise of the conservationists who went over every inch of the structure, used
historic documents and drew on their expertise to restore
Below: l-r Martin Rowe, PMP Consultants; James Wheeler, CEO,
Birmingham Botanical Gardens; Liz Frostick, Development Director,
Birmimngham Botanical Gardens; Matthew Vaughan, Donald Insall
Architects; Ashley Reynolds, Reynolds Conservation Ltd.