MORE than 40,000 tonnes of silt is being moved as part of work to restore Cannon Hall’s three lakes to their former glory.
Specialist contractor Ebsford Environmental is currently working to de-silt and re-establish the banks of the three lakes, with the aim of bringing them back to the original Georgian plans.
The work is part of the £3.4m Restoring the Glory, Revealing the Secrets project, which will see some of Cannon Hall’s disused and dilapidated outbuildings - such as the Deer Shelter and Ice House - restored for the public to enjoy.
The Heritage Lottery Fund provided £2.9m towards the project with the rest funded by Barnsley Council, the Friends of Cannon Hall and other funding sources.
Sharon Sutton is project lead.
She said: “The lakes have been here since between 1760 and 1790 as part of the original Richard Wood design, which is what we are hoping to take them back to. This is the first phase of the work and should be done by the end of August.
“It has been going very well and we are on schedule to complete on time.
“We would like to introduce boating onto the middle lake when it is finished as it is one of the reasons they were originally created in the first place. We are not continuing with the other original leisure activities of swimming and angling though as we want to do more in respect of the ecology.”
Once the new banks have been established natural wildflowers will be planted on the banking.
“The next renovation will be the outdoor buildings of the hall. That will be part of the ‘revealing the secrets’ element of the project, where people can discover parts of the hall they previously probably didn’t even know existed.
“There will be landscape work, new paths and new planting designs. The walled garden will see the renovation of three cottages there, one of which will become a volunteer hub and the other two will be private residences.
“It will be very different but will give even more places for people to explore, giving people even more of a day out free of charge. During all this work it will remain open and the only areas cordoned off will be where we are.”
A discovery area for children and families in woodland on the park will also be created, with things like a mud kitchen and art features within it.
Nick Hartley, managing director of Ebsford Environmental, said work to restore the 50-60,000 sq metre lakes is one of the biggest local projects his company, which is based at Nostell Priory, has ever taken on.
He explained that silt levels in the lakes had become so bad, geese were able to walk across the breadth of it.
The organic silt removed from the lakes is a valuable material and that which hasn’t been repurposed to become the new bankings will be delivered to other sites in need.
He said if the 40,000 tonnes removed was placed on a football pitch it would be 20m high.
“The lakes have never been done before properly,” he said. “We started late March and did a lot of tree clearing to open up the view, with all that material being reused.
“The birds have not been bothered by the work, we even have a coot nesting on the top pond watching us going to work. But we have taken steps to protect any nests and put exclusion zones around them.
“The fish are in the middle and lower lakes so we are keeping work there at a minimum at the moment. Then we will get aerators in which are like big fans to help circulate the water, because the fish pond has a lot of suspended sediment.
“We take regular oxygen readings to make sure we are not causing distress to the fish and we are working with Barnsley’s biodiversity and environment agency too.
“Everything is open, we want people to see what we are doing and there are plenty of volunteering opportunities for them to get involved.”
If you are interested in volunteering at Cannon Hall or a potential operator for boating activities on the lake, contact 772002 or visit cannon-hall.com.
