1996-2008

The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) announced its Urban Parks Programme in January 1996 and hopes were raised. The Friends created a new charitable institution known as the Sheffield Botanical Gardens Trust (SBGT) in August 1996. These two support groups joined the Sheffield Town Trust, Sheffield City Council and Sheffield University in a consortium to apply for a grant to restore the Gardens. To everyone’s delight the bid was successful and HLF awarded £5.06 million for the project, however, matched funding was required to release the money.

Eight years of committed fundraising produced £1.22 million and £0.41 million of work in kind - all through the generosity of local and national charitable trusts, large and small businesses, individual donors and regular fundraising events. At that time Sheffield Botanical Gardens was the only public space in the country where the voluntary sector had raised over £1 million in matched funding.

The Gatehouse, Curator’s House and South Lodge were completely gutted, the roofs and stonework repaired and the interiors restored. The old committee room in the Gatehouse was converted into a shop and the former lodge-keepers house became a reception area with staff facilities and an office for the Curator.

The Curator’s House, which is not a listed building, was converted into a restaurant and had a conservatory, patio area and a toilet block added. The South Lodge was made fit for a tenant to provide security in the grounds at night. On completion this phase was re-opened by Lord Scarbrough in December 2000.

This involved a long and detailed restoration, requiring the careful removal of the ironwork supporting the domes so that repairs could be carried out off site. The intervening ridge-and-furrow glasshouses were constructed using steel. A boiler and ventilation controls were installed to regulate the temperature, designed not to fall below 10⁰C. When all was reconstructed a team from the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens joined the staff and volunteers to replant the internal beds with frost-sensitive temperate plants from around the world.

HRH The Prince of Wales officially re-opened the pavilions in September 2003.

Extensive clearance was required, including about 300 trees. Many trenches were dug for services and drainage by the contractors. The paths were made wide enough for wheelchairs and prams. Work throughout the Gardens required much digging and re-planting by Gardens’ staff and volunteers.

The Friends were particularly involved with the Main Borders on either side of the Broadwalk. In 2002 the beds were totally cleared, with the exception of the Trachycarpus on the eastern side. All other perennials and shrubs in the Borders were planted according to a plan inspired by the gardens at Great Dixter. The volunteers have continued to maintain these beautiful and colourful borders.

The Pan statue was carefully restored by local craftsman Chris Boulton and returned to the Rose Garden in July 2004, where it was mounted on a stone plinth.

The Crimean War Memorial was removed with a great deal of effort at the end of 2003, but unfortunately (at the time of writing) the statue still languishes in Council storage. A four-tiered fountain, as depicted in Marnock’s Floricultural Magazine in 1836, was re-instated in 2004. It was made from cast iron by Dorothea Restorations and sponsored by the Sheffield Assay Office.

The Grade II listed Bear Pit was fully repaired and the railings replaced. In January 2005 an 8 foot tall [2.4 metres] bear, created by sculptor David Mayne, was installed. It is made of mild steel which has naturally rusted from a pale silver colour to ‘bear brown’.

Co-operation with the University of Sheffield led to the initial planting of the Prairie Garden under the direction of Professor James Hitchmough and a project in the Woodland Garden was supervised by Professor Nigel Dunnett. Research was carried out by their students in the Nursery area.

In the Rock and Water Garden many overgrown conifers were removed and the area stripped back and treated with weedkiller in an attempt to rid of the persistent weed Equisetum (horsetail). Although apparently successful at first, this drastic treatment has had to be repeated in 2018-19. Generally chemicals are not used in the Gardens.

Work started on re-planting in the warm, sunny area sheltered from cold winds by Birch Hill. The Mediterranean Climate Garden is designed showcase plants which enjoy the warm wet winters and hot dry summers of five specific regions in the world: Mediterranean Basin, South African Cape, Western Australia, California and Chile.

The first steps towards creating an Evolution Garden were taken by moving the fossil stump to an area previously known as the ‘Cedar Lawn’. This section is remarkable for the conifers growing there, including the deodar cedar, golden larch and the three redwoods.

The National Collections of diervillas and weigelas suffered an infection of honey fungus in 2003. This required propagation or purchase of disease-free plants and the move of the collection to the lower end of the Main East Lawn.

In 2005, the Friends secured an additional grant from a scheme known as Living Spaces, from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. This fund enabled the clearing and replanting of the Long Border, an area which had not been covered by the HLF grant.

The re-landscaped grounds were declared officially open by the actor Michael Palin in June 2008.

The restored Gardens attract tens of thousands of visits annually and are now established as a major outdoor cultural venue for Sheffield. The Theatre, Art and Music in the Gardens events attract a further 30,000 visitors each year.

The Friends have a long-established schedule of horticultural and botanical lectures and workshops. A number of plant fairs and specialist plant society displays are hosted including: hardy plants, cactus, roses and orchids.

A popular and thriving Florilegium Society, producing artwork portraying the beautiful and unusual plants to be found in the Gardens, was established in 2002.

Since the Restoration Project the Gardens have received many awards and commendations, including from the Civic Trust Awards, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the Historic Gardens Foundation, the Landscape Institute, the Institute of Horticulture, the RHS Yorkshire In Bloom Gold Medal in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2020, and the Green Flag Award since 2007 (Green Flag is the national benchmark for quality of parks and green spaces).

The City of Sheffield won a gold medal from Entente Florale in 2005, in the large city category of the Europe wide competition. Sheffield Botanical Gardens played a significant part in that success.