Posted: Thursday 28th November 2024
The Jewel in Wigan’s Crown, Haigh Hall is close to the hearts of so many residents across Wigan Borough. It’s an incredibly exciting time for the hall and wider estate, as they undergo an exciting multi-million-pound restoration programme to transform the destination into one of national significance.
Amphitheatre for a Tree
Multi-award-winning landscape designer and local resident, Michael John McGarr, is helping to provide the vision for a new formal garden next to the hall.
Amphitheatre for a Tree is rooted in symbolism, nature and community, with layered seating surrounding a tree set to amplify breathtaking views across the town.
The inspiration behind the garden was an 18th century painting of Sir Roger and Lady Bradshaigh at Haigh Hall which illustrated formal gardens and beautiful landscaped stepped lawns with amazing views.
The focal point of the garden is a Handkerchief Tree which has been kindly funded by Wigan Rotary Club, and will leave a lasting legacy, as part of their Centenary year celebrations.
Kitchen and walled gardens
The kitchen gardens are undergoing a transformation, with Head of Horticulture, Dr Sylvia Travers, working with a team of gardeners, volunteers and students to breathe new life into the gardens to turn them into a fully functioning kitchen garden.
In the walled garden new glasshouses will support a wide range of community events including horticultural, social, learning and commercial opportunities. The walled garden’s most recent addition is a brood of chickens, who are helping to clear the ground.
Mowpin Lodge Gates
Mowpin Lodge Gates gates will be installed at the Mowpin Lodge entrance to the hall in winter this year.
The gates feature a miner’s shovel and pickaxe marking the 900 years of mining heritage at Haigh Hall and have been fabricated by Wigan-based metal specialists, Lost Art. The design was chosen by residents.
The gates were cast at Haigh Foundry by J & E Castings in 2024. Quite an impressive spectacle!
Woodland Railway
In September 2024, Wigan Council announced plans to invest £380k to get the popular woodland railway back on track, since its temporary closure in 2020.
The railway, which first opened in 1986 and takes a 1.6k route through the upper plantation woodlands, stopping at two stations, is expected to be back up and running by 2027. When the railway was last in operation in 2019/20 it carried more than 20,000 passengers.
Thanks to the hard work of the volunteers in the Haigh Woodland Railway Supporters Association (HWRSA) work has been ongoing in the background to ensure that the investment can have an immediate impact to bring this much-loved attraction back to life.
To find out more visit: wigan.gov.uk/HaighHall (external link).
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