Rivington Heritage Trust

Last updated
Rivington Heritage Trust
Formation1997;27 years ago (1997)
Founder United Utilities
TypeCharity
PurposePreservation of Rivington Terraced Gardens
Location
  • Warrington, WA5
    United Kingdom
Region served
Rivington, United Kingdom
Website www.rivingtonterracedgardens.org.uk/about-us/rivington-heritage-trust/

Rivington Heritage Trust, an arm of United Utilities was formed 1997, is a vehicle created to obtain charitable funding for United Utilities to enable the PLC to reduce costs of its statutory obligations to upkeep and maintain its Rivington property. Previously known as the United Utilities Heritage Foundation, it aims to preserve the Terraced Gardens at Rivington, Lancashire, England and is incorporated with charitable aims to "To consult with stakeholders on the use and development of Rivington Terraced Gardens for the benefit of the public and the environment." The objects are to conserve, preserve, maintain, protect and enhance for the benefit of the public land and structures of outstanding natural beauty or of historic or architecture", its headquarters have remained the United Utilities Head Office at Warrington, the freeholder of land it manages.

Contents

Aims and Objectives

The Rivington Heritage Trust official aims are to "To consult with stakeholders on the use and development of Rivington Terraced Gardens for the benefit of the public and the environment. The objects of the trust shall be to:- (i) conserve, preserve, maintain, protect and enhance for the benefit of the public all beneficial aspects and features of the environment of land and structures of outstanding natural beauty or of historic or architecture" [1]

Blue Planet Scheme

A group of employees of the water company in 1997 under the direction of their employer United Utilities formed a scheme for Lever Park which would have overturned the Liverpool Corporation Act 1902, which created Lever Park, enshrining in law that the corporation and its successors shall manage Lever Park, named after Leverhulme [2] and keep open the park for the "free and uninterrupted enjoyment of the people of his native town of Bolton". [3] [4]

The present owner and successor to the corporation of Liverpool is United Utilities. The Blue Planet Scheme being rejected and opposed by locals it was not until 2012 that the owners through the Rivington Heritage Trust commenced saving the former gardens from ruin. All Rhododendron was removed from the gardens in 2006 after Ramorum Disease was found at the site. [5] By 2016 the trust had obtained funding through public grants and started to clear the former gardens, repair paths and preserve the woodland and remaining structures, the ownership of the site transferred to the trust by way of lease in the same year, the site is managed woodland and the grade 2 listed gardens structures repaired. The Lancashire Environmental Fund awarded a grant of £23,000 in 2022 to improve accessibility from Lower House car park via Roynton Road to improve access at the site. [6]

History of Rivington Heritage Trust

Rivington Heritage Trust, was originally intended as the body created by United Utilities employees to manage Lever Park and other areas of Rivington under their ownership to access charitable funds from 1997. United Utilities originally applied for £15 million in funding for 'Blue Planet Park' but had its plans rejected for funding by the Millennium Commission. The trusts originally planned to take over all of Lever Park including Rivington Pike, plans were opposed by six regional MPs and were met with huge local opposition. Among issues raised by the public were fears that Music festivals would be held and visitors charged admission, the water company assured the public that would never happen. [7] [8] [9] Den Dover was the Constituency Member of parliament serving for the Conservatives, then in government and raised concerns that the bill presented to parliament would give the water company too much power, he feared public access could be restricted and fee's for entry charged. He opposed the plans and the Water company were forced to withdraw their bill in parliament in July 1997, known as the Lever Park Act, where it met with opposition. [10] The trust abandoned the plans by 1998 after considerable local opposition. [11] The trust was an arm of the water company in all but name and decided to change tactics and invited local representation. [12] Rivington Heritage Trust had plans to take over part of Lever Park to rent out to tourists for Glamping, the plan had been leaked and concerns were raised at a Rivington Parish Council meeting in 2020. [13]

Heritage Funding

The Rivington Heritage Trust had not achieved funding for the original plan known as the Blue Planet Scheme and formed a new plan to proceed gradually whilst lobbying and obtaining public support after its failures in 1998. By 2013 they had succeeded in obtaining £60,000 in grant funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund the Big Lottery Fund for new plans for the Rivington Terraced Gardens. [14] [15] By 2016 the trust and Groundwork Cheshire Lancashire and Merseyside were successful in obtaining a grant of £3.4 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to conserve and repair the Rivington Terraced Gardens and remaining Grade II listed structures. The trust is well funded with an income in 2020 of over £1.4 million. [1] In order to show separation from United Utilities a lease of 50 years was granted by United Utilities to the Rivington Heritage Trust in the same year. Although the trusts corpate secretary remained United Utilities Secretariat Ltd. [16] [17] Clearance work has been undertaken by unpaid volunteers. [18] The trust have used the former gardens for a variety of events in 2018 and 2019, including a two-day music festival and also sell Gin. Public events and access to the former gardens and Pike was stopped during the Covid pandemic [19] and the 2018 moorland fires. [18] [20]

Lever Park

According to the trusts aims and objectives Lever Park and Rivington Pike are outside the trusts remit, the trust are however referred to as the land owners agents by Lancashire County Council and play a role in the maintenance and management of Lever Park, where in 2012 they arranged alterations at the replica Liverpool Castle. The castle walls were altered by rebuilding to an angular style at the north wall and near the Keep, stonework was also removed from the wall of the replica castle prison tower as it joins the ante-chapel, the work was undertaken in 2012 as part of safety work in an effort to stop visitors climbing. [21] [22] In 2021 Lever parks information centre became the Terraced Gardens visitor centre, it was formerly a long established asset of the Park. [23] Members of Rivington Parish Council, [24] Horwich Council and Chorley [25] hold positions of various levels and influence on the trust, the councillors deny the conflict of interest.

Covid

The public was prevented from access to the Pike, part of Lever Park, in conflict with the rights afforded by law enshrined in the Liverpool Corporation Act of "free and uninterrupted enjoyment" and the Countryside and Rights of Way Act during Easter by the landowners agent, Rivington Heritage Trust alongside Police for first time in its history in 2020 and 2021 during the Covid pandemic. [26] In June 2020 [27] Police stepped up patrols on rumours of a gathering, also in May 2021 Police, United Utilities / Rivington Heritage Trust and North West 4x4 Response went patrolling with a view to arrests for offences of "gathering and proceeding to a gathering under the Criminal Justice and Public order act". [28] In June 2021 Police officers are reported to have 'swooped' on Rivington to prevent a rumoured gathering. [29]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chorley</span> Town in Lancashire, England

Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, 8 miles (13 km) north of Wigan, 11 miles (18 km) south west of Blackburn, 11 miles (18 km) north west of Bolton, 12 miles (19 km) south of Preston and 20 miles (32 km) north west of Manchester. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolton</span> Town in Greater Manchester, England

Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester in England. In the foothills of the West Pennine Moors, Bolton is between Manchester, Blackburn, Wigan, Bury and Salford. It is surrounded by several towns and villages that form the wider borough, of which Bolton is the administrative centre. The town is within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borough of Chorley</span> Borough and non-metropolitan district in England

The Borough of Chorley is a local government district with borough status in Lancashire, England. It is named after the town of Chorley, which is an unparished area. The borough extends to several villages and hamlets including Adlington, Buckshaw Village, Croston, Eccleston, Euxton and Whittle-le-Woods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Horwich</span> Human settlement in England

Horwich is a town and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, within the historic county boundaries of Lancashire. It is 5.3 miles (8.5 km) southeast of Chorley, 5.8 miles (9.3 km) northwest of Bolton and 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Manchester. It lies at the southern edge of the West Pennine Moors with the M61 motorway passing close to the south and west. At the 2011 Census, Horwich had a population of 20,067.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme</span> English industrialist

William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme, was an English industrialist, philanthropist, and politician. Educated at a small private school until the age of nine, then at church schools, he joined his father's wholesale grocery business in Bolton at the age of fifteen. Following an apprenticeship and a series of appointments in the family business, which he successfully expanded, he began manufacturing Sunlight Soap, building a substantial business empire with many well-known brands such as Lux and Lifebuoy. In 1886, together with his brother, James, he established Lever Brothers, which was one of the first companies to manufacture soap from vegetable oils, and which is now part of the British multinational Unilever. In politics, Lever briefly sat as a Liberal MP for Wirral and later, as Lord Leverhulme, in the House of Lords as a Peer. He was an advocate for expansion of the British Empire, particularly in Africa and Asia, which supplied palm oil, a key ingredient in Lever's product line. His firm had become associated with activities in the Belgian Congo by 1911.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Winter Hill (North West England)</span>

Winter Hill is a hill on which the three boroughs of Chorley, Blackburn with Darwen and Bolton meet in North West England. It is located on Rivington Moor, Chorley and is 1,496 feet (456 m) high. Part of the West Pennine Moors, it is a popular walking area, and has been the site of mining activity, aeroplane disasters and murders.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglezarke</span> Human settlement in England

Anglezarke is a sparsely populated civil parish in the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England. It is an agricultural area used for sheep farming and is also the site of reservoirs that were built to supply water to Liverpool. The area has a large expanse of moorland with many public footpaths and bridleways. The area is popular with walkers and tourists; it lies in the West Pennine Moors in Lancashire, sandwiched between the moors of Withnell and Rivington, and is close to the towns of Chorley, Horwich and Darwen. At the 2001 census it had a population of 23, but at the 2011 census the population was included within Heapey civil parish. The area was subjected to depopulation after the reservoirs were built.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rivington Pike</span> Hill in Lancashire, England

Rivington Pike is a hill on Winter Hill, part of the West Pennine Moors at Rivington, Chorley in Lancashire, England. The nearest towns are Adlington and Horwich. The land and building are owned and managed by Chorley Council. The Pike Tower is a prominent local landmark located below the summit, it is part of Lever Park. The area is popular with hill walkers and for mountain biking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croston</span> Human settlement in England

Croston is a village and civil parish near Chorley in Lancashire, England. The River Yarrow flows through the village. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 2,917.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anderton, Lancashire</span> Human settlement in England

Anderton is a civil parish in the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England. It is now a suburb of Adlington, 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Bolton. Within its boundaries are the Rivington Reservoirs. Grimeford village is in the parish. In 2001, the parish had a population of 1,206, increasing to 1,316 at the 2011 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rivington</span> Village in Lancashire, England

Rivington is a village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, England, occupying 2,538 acres. It is about 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Chorley and about 8+1⁄2 miles (13.7 km) northwest of Bolton. Rivington is a rural area consisting primarily of agricultural grazing land, moorland, with hill summits including Rivington Pike and Winter Hill within the West Pennine Moors. The area has a thriving tourist industry centred around reservoirs created to serve Liverpool in the Victorian era and Lever Park created as a public park by William Lever at the turn of the 20th century, with two converted barns, a replica of Liverpool Castle and open countryside. Rivington and Blackrod High School is located here. Rivington and its village had a population of 109 at the 2011 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Smithills Hall</span> Listed building in Greater Manchester, England

Smithills Hall is a Grade I listed manor house, and a scheduled monument in Smithills, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the slopes of the West Pennine Moors above Bolton at a height of 500 feet (150 m), 3 miles (4.8 km) north west of the town centre. It occupies a defensive site near the Astley and Raveden Brooks. One of the oldest manor houses in North West England, its oldest parts, including the great hall, date from the 15th century and it has since been altered and extended, particularly the west wing. Parts of it were moated. The property is owned by Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council and open to the public.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Pennine Moors</span>

The West Pennine Moors is an area of the Pennines covering approximately 90 square miles (230 km2) of moorland and reservoirs in Lancashire and Greater Manchester, England. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Hayton Mawson</span>

Thomas Hayton Mawson, known as T. H. Mawson, was a British garden designer, landscape architect, and town planner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Hulton</span> Area of Greater Manchester, England

Little Hulton is an area in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England, 3.4 miles (5.5 km) south of Bolton, 7 miles (11.3 km) northwest of Salford, and 9 miles (14.5 km) northwest of Manchester. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, Little Hulton is bordered by Farnworth to the north, Walkden to the east and Tyldesley to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heath Charnock</span> Human settlement in England

Heath Charnock is a small village and civil parish of the Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England. According to the United Kingdom Census 2001 it has a population of 2,065, reducing to 2,026 at the 2011 Census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rivington and Blackrod High School</span> Voluntary controlled comprehensive and sixth form school in England

Rivington and Blackrod High School in the North West region of England is a Leverhulme Trust multi-academy comprehensive school. Alongside Harper Green School, it operates as a Church of England teaching environment with a sixth form school. The school is located at two sites, with the upper school situated on Rivington Lane in Rivington, Lancashire, and the lower school situated on Albert Street in Horwich, Greater Manchester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rivington Hall</span> Manor house in Lancashire, England

Rivington Hall is a Grade II* listed building in Rivington, Lancashire, England. It was the manor house for the Lords of the Manor of Rivington. The hall is of various builds as successor to a 15th-century timber-framed courtyard house that was built near to the present building of which no trace remains. It is a private residence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Listed buildings in Rivington</span>

Rivington in the Borough of Chorley, Lancashire, is situated on the edge of the West Pennine Moors, at the foot of Rivington Pike overlooking reservoirs created for Liverpool Corporation Waterworks in the 19th century. There are twenty eight listed buildings within Rivington, two are classified by English Heritage as Grade II*, the rest as Grade II; Rivington has no Grade I Listed buildings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terraced Gardens, Rivington</span> Landscaped woodland in Lancashire, England

Terraced Gardens of Rivington is a landscaped woodland on the hillside of Rivington Pike, in Rivington Parish in the Chorley Borough of Lancashire, England, originally designed as a Garden by T.H. Mawson and built as curtilage to a home of the soap magnate Viscount Leverhulme; as such, the area is not part of Lever Park. The gardens contains and abuts the SSSI of the West Pennine Moors. Today the former gardens are Grade II listed and contain eleven Grade II structures. The original design had three elements — the upper part being in the romanesque architectural style, the lower section, known as the Ravine, was a woodland with a man-made stream, and a Japanese-style garden, with a man-made pond constructed of Pulmonite which remains today. The gardens are leased to Rivington Heritage Trust by United Utilities and are undergoing restoration and preservation.

References

  1. 1 2 "Charity Overview". Charity Commission. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  2. ↑ Smith, M. D. (1984). Leverhulme's Rivington. Chorley: Nelson Brothers Printers. p. 22. ISBN   9780950877211.
  3. ↑ "1902 LIVERPOOL CORPORATION ACT". Rivington Parish Council. RPC. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  4. ↑ "Liverpool Corporation Act 1902". Legislation Gov UK. Gov UK. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  5. ↑ "Follow The path". No. 2 December 2005. Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  6. ↑ Finney, Lewis (20 January 2022). "Rivington Terraced Gardens receive £23,000 grant to improve accessibility". Bolton News. NewsQuest. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  7. ↑ "Trust to oversee £15m park project". Bolton News. Associated Press. 22 January 1997. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  8. ↑ "Meeting demanded on park's future". Bolton News. Associated Press. 31 July 1997. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  9. ↑ Wright, Sue (7 February 1997). "Bill will protect park". Bolton News. Bolton News. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  10. ↑ "Big park scheme is pulled". Bolton News. 19 July 1997. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  11. ↑ "The park's safe in our hands, says Trust". Bolton News. Bolton News. 8 April 1997. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  12. ↑ "Lottery cash plans sunk". Associated Press. 26 June 1997. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  13. ↑ "Minutes of Rivington Parish Council held on Monday, September 7th 2020 at 7.30pm in Rivington Chapel". Rivington Parish Council. Rivington Parish Council. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  14. ↑ Thorpe, Liam (13 July 2013). "Rivington Terraced Gardens get £6,000 lottery cash boost". Associated Press. Bolton News. Retrieved 7 October 2019.
  15. ↑ "'Blue Planet' park plan hopes are scotched". Bolton News. Associated Press. 24 September 1998. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  16. ↑ "RIVINGTON HERITAGE TRUST - LINGLEY GREEN AVENUE". Check Company. Check Company. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  17. ↑ "Land Registry Title Number LAN62310". Gov UK. Gov UK. Retrieved 24 June 2019.
  18. 1 2 "Events". RHT. Rivington Heritage Trust. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  19. ↑ "Rivington fair is cancelled as authorities urge visitors to stay safe over Easter". United Utilities. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  20. ↑ Holbrook, Karl (1 September 2019). "Downpours can't dampen spirits at Rivington Music Festival". Bolton News. Associated Press. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
  21. ↑ Lever Park, Rivington. Parks and Gardens UK. Retrieved 6 June 2010.
  22. ↑ Haworth, Glynn (23 July 2012). "United Utilities WPM AMC Report" (PDF). General Update for year 2011 to 2012. United Utilities. Lancashire Country Council SCaMP. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  23. ↑ Harrigan, Joe (5 December 2021). "Rivington Terraced Gardens opens new visitor centre". Bolton News. NewsQuest. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  24. ↑ "Minutes of Rivington Parish Council meeting held on Monday, October 22nd 2018" (PDF). Rivington Parish Council. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  25. ↑ Council, Chorley. "Outside body". Chorley Council. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  26. ↑ "Covid: Police break up illegal gathering at Rivington beauty spot". Bolton News. NewsQuest. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  27. ↑ Quayle, Ewan (20 June 2020). "Police step up patrols after illegal rave rumours in Rivington and Belmont". Newsquest. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  28. ↑ Nadeem, Alima (29 May 2021). "Police step up patrols in Rivington after illegal rave plans leak" . Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  29. ↑ Vesty, Helena (22 June 2021). "'Illegal rave' at beauty spot foiled as police officers swoop on historic Rivington site". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.