Friends of the Pump Room Gardens

The group was originally formed in 2008 as a result of an invitation from Warwick District Council to raise money to restore the Pump Room Gardens (PRG) including the Victorian arches under the avenue of lime trees known as the Linden Arches. The invitation was to the Leamington Society and the Central Leamington Residents Association (CLARA), joined later by two other organisations – the Royal Leamington Spa Building Conservation Trust and the Warwickshire Gardens Trust. This partnership then worked with WDC to achieve a major renewal of the PRG.

The FPRG members were Archie Pitts (Chair), Gary Jones (Leader on delivery of the Activities Plan), Stephanie Kerr, Martyn Adams, Julia Cooley, Zani Franklin, Jenny St John, Carole Sleight, Jef Tuyn.

Volunteers: Fiona Anderson, Katherine Attreed, Paul Baker, Lucinda Broad, Rachel Brooks, Liz Drake, Kristie Naimo, Katherine Pasteur, Peter Storrie, Jamie Walker.  

The PRG are the earliest part of a chain of gardens, known as the Spa Gardens of Leamington, stretching from Newbold Comyn in the east to Victoria Park in the west. These are designated as Grade II on the English Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England (Reference No.GD 1471), one of around 1,600 such parks and gardens in the country.  For numerical comparison there are over 400,000 listed buildings and other structures.

The gardens were opened in 1814 for patrons of the Pump Room and Baths. In 1876 the public were allowed unrestricted 24/7 access and the gardens became regarded as Leamington’s village green. They still are. 

The layout of the PRG was determined by William Louis de Normanville, Leamington Borough Surveyor 1882-1917 and changed little through the 20th century. 

The Gardens lie in a flood plain; the banks of river Leam were built up to give some limited protection from the river over flowing.  Nevertheless in wet weather the ground quickly becomes waterlogged and is slow to drain due to the underlying clay.

The Friends of the Pump Room Gardens (FPRG) group was dissolved after the completion of the PRG restoration project.