Funding to Support Restoration and Preservation of Historic Site

The Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue Trust has been awarded £114,650 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. This funding will support the protection and preservation of the historic Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue, located on the Rutland and Lincolnshire border.

The Avenue, home to 137 yew trees each over 200 years old, will benefit from the lottery funding delivered over five years, starting in January, to support the trust set up in 2018.

Dr. Patrick Candler, chairman of the trust, stated, “This is absolutely wonderful news for the avenue and means we now have the funding security to continue to keep the site in great condition and also to restore the lost topiary designs for the next five years.”

The funds will be used for annual maintenance, restoration of emblems and designs, improving education and information boards, replacing older furniture, and conducting biodiversity surveys.

Dr. Candler further explained, “There are emblems on the side of the yew trees which are very specific to Rutland, to key dates in our recent history, and they have been grown on the side of the trees, but it takes four to five years for these to come to maturity and be seen…This grant will allow us to restore all of the designs that were there in 2010 and hopefully we’ll be putting in some new ones to celebrate the 21st century.”

The trust aims to save the heritage of the historic yew avenue, protect and sustain nature, and create a place of greater visitor value. Dr. Candler added, “This is Lottery money, so this is what we can give back to the people who buy their ticket.”