New project will celebrate the history of East Devon’s much-loved parks and gardens

Midweek Herald: Cllr Iain ChubbCllr Iain Chubb (Image: Archant)

Seaton and Honiton are included in a unique project to capture the history of eight much-loved East Devon parks and gardens.

East Devon District Council has received a £9,500 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund to develop a Heritage Trail to link each site.

Now it is asking local communities and schools to help it piece together the history, stories and photos around the gardens and parks.

The council’s parks team will be bringing together the information to use for interpretation panels at each site, telling the story of how the parks and gardens were created and highlighting major events that have taken place there.

Alongside the panels will be a trail leaflet which will be available to residents and visitors, through libraries and visitor centres, and will link all eight sites.

The sites are: Seafield Gardens, in Seaton; The Glen, in Honiton; Blackmore Gardens and Connaught Gardens, in Sidmouth; Beach Gardens and Manor Gardens, in Exmouth; Canaan Way, in Ottery St Mary; and The Green, in Budleigh.

The team is appealing for old photos of these parks and gardens and would love to hear the memories of residents who can perhaps remember historical events that have taken place at these sites.

The project will continue until next July.

Cllr Iain Chubb, EDDC’s environment spokesman, said: “This is a wonderful idea as we all have memories of our own favourite parks and gardens. It’s a real opportunity to celebrate how beautiful these sites are and how they form part of our heritage.”

If you have any old photos or memories of the sites named above, please contact Jane Nicholls from EDDC’s Streetscene team at Camperdown Terrace Depot, Exmouth EX8 1EJ or email streetsceneops@eastdevon.gov.uk