£5m scheme to bring the bloom back to Horniman gardens

The Horniman Museum is to renovate its historic listed gardens as part of a £5 million scheme to realise its founder's plans.

When the museum was established in 1901, Victorian tea trader Frederick Horniman wanted his entire gift — complete with gardens and collections — to be a centre for recreation and instruction.

But changes over the decades left the grounds adrift from the museum's purpose of bringing the world to Forest Hill. Now renovations and new learning facilities will extend the educational work to the entire 16.5-acre site. The bandstand, the bandstand terrace and the sunken garden are being restored and the landscape reshaped to open views across London. The museum displays will be reflected in the grounds, often bringing a local perspective to the global artefacts that can be viewed in the galleries.

After visiting the displays of musical instruments, visitors can play them in a new musical area.

The natural history specimens inside will be complemented with a community food garden and an extended animal enclosure outside. The next phase will cost £5 million with £907,000 pledged from the Heritage Lottery Fund towards the gardens and another £250,000 from the Weston Foundation.

The work of reuniting the museum with the grounds began with an extension in 2002 which re-orientated the site to bring visitors in through the garden. The transformation continued with the refurbishment of the aquarium.

A new gallery, Nature Base, opens today. It will include live exhibits from a harvest mouse to a rare beetle known as the Horniman and will show children how easy it can be to find wildlife even in the centre of the city.