PART of an historic 18th-century mansion house and estate in Co Fermanagh is to be brought back to life with funding from the National Lottery.
Florence Court has received a grant of £374,800 to restore the kitchen garden in the estate’s walled garden to its 1930s character and atmosphere.
At peak production, from the late 1890s up to World War II, 12 full-time gardeners worked in the kitchen garden, with the produce providing crops for the house and wider estate.
The garden and glasshouses fell into decline following the departure of the last head gardener in 1947.
In 1995 the walled garden was transferred into the care of the National Trust who recreated the upper rose garden and restored the apple orchard.
The lottery grant will see the reinstatement of two glasshouses on the footprint of the two original glass structures revealed in archaeological excavations carried out by the trust in 2014.
One of the new glasshouses will be dedicated to horticultural production and the second will provide a sheltered space for volunteer learning and community use.
The garden will also be returned to full horticultural production in empathy with its historic planting schemes.
Jim Chestnutt from the National Trust said: "We are absolutely delighted to have secured funding from the National Lottery for this project ...The funding will also provide vital support for the delivery of an exciting activities programme to engage a far reaching and diverse audience with this special place."
