Wolfson Foundation awards £100,000 grant towards restoration of the Royal Pavilion Garden
Brighton & Hove Museums has today welcomed confirmation of a £100,000 grant from the Wolfson Foundation towards the restoration and interpretation of the Royal Pavilion Garden, a significant step forward in a major project to revitalise one of the city’s most treasured heritage sites.
The Royal Pavilion Garden restoration is a £6.5 million project focused on the conservation, repair and reinterpretation of this nationally significant Regency garden at the heart of the Royal Pavilion Estate. The project will restore the Garden’s historic character, improve accessibility, and transform how people engage with its heritage for future generations.
Hedley Swain, CEO of Brighton & Hove Museums, said:
“We are incredibly grateful to the Wolfson Foundation for their generous grant of £100,000 towards the restoration and interpretation of the Royal Pavilion Garden. Their support brings us a significant step closer to realising our vision for this historic and much-loved green space, helping us to reconnect the Royal Estate with the heart of the city and ensure that future generations can enjoy its beauty and heritage.”
Planned work in the Royal Pavilion Garden includes the reinstatement of historic landscaping, improvements to accessibility, the integration of educational and interpretive resources and new approaches to visitor engagement.
Together, these measures will help address the pressures of high visitor numbers, erosion and antisocial behaviour, while supporting the long-term care of this nationally significant site. A key ambition of the project is to remove the Garden from Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register.
Funding for the wider Royal Estate project includes £4,369,755 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, alongside investment from Brighton & Hove City Council. Brighton & Hove Museums continues to fundraise to secure the remaining funding needed to deliver the full scope of the project.
The Wolfson Foundation is an independent grant-making charity with a focus on research and education. Its funding spans science, health, heritage, the humanities, and the arts, and its support for the Royal Pavilion Garden has been instrumental in bringing the project closer to completion.
Brighton & Hove Museums continues to work with partners and supporters to secure the remaining funds needed to deliver the full vision for the Garden and ensure this unique historic landscape can be enjoyed, learned from, and cared for well into the future.