Wrest Park to Host New Garden Statues Exhibition

A new exhibition of historic garden statues is set to open this weekend at Wrest Park in Luton, giving visitors to the 90-acre grounds a chance to see treasures dating from the early 18thcentury, when the gardens were originally devised by Henry, Duke of Kent.

The only twist is that – unlike normal garden statues such as classical figures, animal statues or water features – these statues are going to be shown off indoors, since many of them are no longer strong enough to weather the elements.

After renovation took place of the park’s former dairy, thanks to the largesse of a £1.14 million contribution from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the space will now be used to exhibit the dozens of statues and sculptures.

Explaining the new exhibition to the local paper, English Heritage senior properties historian Andrew Hann said: “The Dairy sculpture gallery is just one of the many ways we are bringing Wrest Park’s historic gardens to life for a new generation of visitors.”

“Over 250 years the de Grey family employed the most celebrated garden designers of their time to shape the landscape and these statues were an integral part of their schemes.”