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Help us restore a handsome 18th century garden wall in the heart of Wandlebury Country Park.
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A sweeping solid curve of yellow brickwork, the Wandlebury Ring Wall is both a beautiful feature and an historic landmark, in Wandlebury Country Park – which is today a vital ‘green lung’ for the expanding city of Cambridge. First seen in a print of 1743, the high garden wall built by the estate owner, Francis Godolphin, was an important element in the mid 18th century garden design, and remains a prominent feature in the Wandlebury landscape. The wall enclosed the formal gardens of the house and stable complex, and separated them from the more informal landscape of grazing paddocks beyond. Frost, water and ivy damage has taken its toll and the Cambridge Preservation Society has embarked on a 5-10 year repair programme, to ensure that the wall is restored for future generations to enjoy. The first two phases have been successfully completed. A 100 meter stretch of wall beginning at the Education Centre was repaired in autumn 2004, funded by a grant from South Cambridgeshire District Council and a legacy left to the Society by the late Professor R M Cook. In spring/summer 2006 we repaired a 75 meter stretch of wall adjacent to the Orchard—with the help of generous donations to a ‘Buy a Brick Appeal’. But we still have a long way to go! With getting on for 300 metres still left to repair, we need to raise at least £250,000 to complete the work. Our aim in 2008/2009 is to repair a further 130 meters to ‘bridge the gap’ between the first two phases.