Painshill Park Masterplan

PRS and DCLA were appointed in January 2022 to "restore Painshill Park as nearly as possible to Charles Hamilton’s original concept of a landscape garden with a variety of scenery for the benefit of the public."

Painshill Park is recognised by Historic England as a Grade I Registered Park and Garden, and a number of garden buildings are listed. The vision of the masterplan is to improve the overall reputation of Painshill Park as a regional, national and international place of excellence for understanding the C18th-Century English Landscape Garden.

We considered the full extent of the historic landscape to give an understanding of the whole designed landscape, its topography, structure, and how it worked as a designed layout. The scope of this Masterplan covers:

• Develop recommendations that update the existing conservation management plans.
• Consider the risks posed by wider environmental challenges, particularly climate change, and impacts on hydrology and plant health.
• Consider visitor and estate management infrastructure improvements.
• Consider the site’s visitor carrying capacity and potentially damaging increases.
• Consider how to maximise the use of the site for income generation to underpin PPT’s ability to remain financially sustainable.
• Consider how Painshill can be better understood by visitors including reaching new audiences.
• Consider how Painshill could build on its reputation as a site of national and international importance and significance.

Masterplan proposals for improvements to the Visitor Centre as a whole were presented and considered, including the following: access arrangements, the removal of temporary structures, better arrangements for the shop to capture visitors, improved café facilities and their relationship to external seating provision, improved sanitary arrangements, etc.