A FIVE YEAR campaign to restore the Rivington gardens to their former glory has been named as a finalist for next year's Civic Trust Awards.

The £4million Rivington Terraced Gardens project aims to restore 11 listed structures including paths, steps, lakes and lawns across the well-loved 44-acre site with the help of hundreds of volunteers.

Organisers hope that once the project is finished the site provide habitat for invertebrates, small mammals, hunting grounds for birds of prey and grazing for local wild roe deer and their work has already impressed the Civic Trust's visiting judges.

Rivington Terraced Gardens heritage projects manager Andrew Suter said: "It was a privilege to welcome the civic judge.

"They seemed incredibly impressed with our conservation work, but even more so with the commitment and dedication of the wider community who have spent so many hours grafting to help us in this amazing achievement.

"Our volunteers have given over 70,000 hours of their time over the last five years, a phenomenal amount which translates to almost £500,000 of funding for the National Lottery Heritage Fund project."

The project has already restored six miles of footpaths and 40,000 square meters of vegetation along with 300 miles of lost original footpaths.

The £4million Lottery funded project has been carried out by the Rivington Heritage Trust with the help of architects firm Donald Insall Associates.

Associate director Dorian Proudfoot said: "The key architectural consideration was to maintain the magical feel that the visitor is discovering the structures amongst the landscape and not to over-restore.

"The project used materials and specifications that matched the original construction as closely as possible.

"For sustainability reasons, stone used in the restoration was sourced from a quarry £2km from site, which was also a technical match, as the original buildings would have been built from this stone too.

"We’re immensely proud to have worked on this project collaboratively and engaged the local community, who have been a driving force in achieving the impressive end result.

"It really is a hidden gem; a true piece of history and to reach the finals for a Civic Trust Award is a huge accolade in itself."

The award winners will be revealed at a ceremony on March 2022.