A manor house that was neglected for a more than a decade before being transformed into a business park has won one of the highest possible accolades for its landscaping.
Coleshill Manor Office Campus has received the premier award for landscape design in the annual Heart of England in Bloom competition which judges the quality and design of commercial developments in the region from Gloucestershire to Cheshire and across from Shropshire to Warwickshire.
Once the home of the Wingfield-Digby family – lords of the manor of Coleshill – the grade two listed noble country house in the Elizabethan style of red brick and Bath stone had stood empty and neglected for over a decade until the 200-acre park was acquired by Warwick-based IM Properties in 2002.
Now following an investment of more than £17 million in the restoration of heritage buildings and constructing offices, this latest award takes the total to three for the business park following on from Civic Awards in 2005 and 2008.
Wolverhampton-based design consultants BEA Landscape Design, responsible for masterminding the setting of the office buildings in association with landscape contractor Andrew Mullins, were faced with almost jungle-like conditions of the overgrown walled garden of the manor and huge expanses of tarmac vehicle parking put down over earlier landscaping when the buildings were once occupied by the local health authority.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, chairman of Coleshill In Bloom Peter Fowler said: “There were times when the people of Coleshill thought the old hall was destined to go the way of many treasured listed buildings and demolished.
“Coleshill Manor Office Campus is an excellent example of a forward looking private developer who is bringing part of the local heritage back into full economic use.
“The manor is well-located workspace set in an award winning, historic parkland. It is a credit to IM Properties and an asset to the town of Coleshill.”
