Friends' 2010 appeal

Each year the Friends of Bushy & Home Parks raise money for a project in one of the parks which is not budgeted for out of their grants. The appeals in the past have ranged from the planting of trees and shrubs, bird and bat boxes, benches, notice boards, tools for volunteer gardeners and equipment for the education centre in the stockyard.

The appeal for 2010 is to be for the finials in the newly restored Water Gardens close to Upper Lodge. The evidence from the three pictures that have been found from about the period the Water Gardens were first installed, show three finials on either side of the water cascade. Although none of the finials were found during the excavation, metal spikes were found which were likely to have been from the finials. Some metal spikes were definitely found to be the “reeds” which adorned the bottom of the wall. Those have been put back where they were and can be clearly seen at the bottom of the left hand wall.

The finials were probably made of copper or a similar metal. One or two local companies are working on the detail of how they will be replaced, so we don’t have a definite cost for these yet, but one quote has come in for about £2,500. Our appeals quite often raise this amount of money, so we are hopeful that our generous Friends and members of the public will help us achieve our goal. The finials will add an authentic look to the cascade and will enhance the whole look of the gardens.

It had been thought that the smaller finials might be plants which would have been changed over for the seasons, but more and more evidence suggests that a metal was used. Part of the problem is that there is no written evidence that describes them and the three pictures could have been subject to “artistic licence”.