DE LISLE FAMILY CELEBRATE HISTORY OF LOUGHBOROUGH PARK AT NEW HOMES LAUNCH
Squire de Lisle Guy Higgins and Peter de Lisle
The De Lisle family, former landowners of Loughborough’s Garendon Park, joined a celebration of the park’s past and future at the opening of a new homes development on the site.
Squire De Lisle and his son Peter were guests of honour at the opening of William Davis Homes’ Garendon Park development, which is being built within the historic park.
Ancestors of the Squire moved to Leicestershire in the 1700s and bought the Garendon Park estate, which is currently being developed to create 3,200 homes and local facilities.
The development will see public access to the park being formalised for the first time and improvements made throughout, including to footpaths and cycle paths.
Squire de Lisle Guy Higgins and Michele Rose
Speaking at the launch, the Squire described being visited by planners 50 years ago and said he suggested the Garendon Park development could act as a “lung for Loughborough”.
He said: “We’re here today, inside the lung, on a road called William Railton Road. William Railton built the church in Thorpe Acre, he built Nelson’s Column, a rather fine piece of architecture in Trafalgar Square, and he built Grace Dieu and a few of our cottages for us.
“We are really pleased to see proper development on this site and I hope the people who live in them [the homes] will be very happy.”
The development of Garendon Park will include the creation of local shops, sports facilities, a community hub and two primary schools, with a link road running through the site.
Restoration work was recently completed on the park’s historic obelisk and there are plans for work on structures including its Grade II listed Temple of Venus and Grade I listed Triumphal Arch.
There are plans to turn several historic buildings in the park, including former Monastic buildings, into a visitors’ centre.
Squire de Lisle and Guy Higgins
Guy Higgins, managing director of William Davis Homes, said:
“Garendon Park is a flagship development for us as a Loughborough based business. Having worked with the Squire and Peter de Lisle over many years to bring this development forward, having them present for the launch made it a very special occasion.
“The park is a space which the people of Loughborough have a fondness for, and this development will create formal rights of public access to it and preserve it as a community asset for both residents in the new homes and the wider community to enjoy.”
To find out more about William Davis’ homes at Garendon Park, visit www.williamdavis.co.uk/development/garendon-park/