New pagoda built by volunteer at Rivington Terraced Gardens

A volunteer has created a scaled down version of a pagoda which once stood in Rivington Terraced Gardens.
Kevin Eyles, who volunteers restoring Rivington Terraced Gardens has made a replica of a pagoda that used to sit in the gardens.Kevin Eyles, who volunteers restoring Rivington Terraced Gardens has made a replica of a pagoda that used to sit in the gardens.
Kevin Eyles, who volunteers restoring Rivington Terraced Gardens has made a replica of a pagoda that used to sit in the gardens.

Kevin Eyles, who has a background in making furniture, took on the challenge for fun.

He said: “I just thought why not. I’ve had an interest in the grounds, I’ve been volunteering there for just over a year now.”

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A project to restore the gardens built by soap magnate Lord Leverhulme is ongoing.

Kevin Eyles, who volunteers restoring Rivington Terraced Gardens has made a replica of a pagoda that used to sit in the gardens.Kevin Eyles, who volunteers restoring Rivington Terraced Gardens has made a replica of a pagoda that used to sit in the gardens.
Kevin Eyles, who volunteers restoring Rivington Terraced Gardens has made a replica of a pagoda that used to sit in the gardens.

“It’s my ambition to build the real one but that’s not part of the current funding,” said Kevin. “It’s just going to be used to get people interested and promote the project at exhibitions and events.

“I designed it on SketchUp - a 3D drawing package. We have some photos of it so I’m relatively happy that we’ve got the size roughly right. The actual size of the base we know because the current base is still there. The real figure is 12 times bigger than the model.”

Kevin estimated that he spent about 50 hours working on the pagoda’s design and another 120 hours making it.

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“I was just coming out to my workshop when I could to get it done.

Kevin Eyles, who volunteers restoring Rivington Terraced Gardens has made a replica of a pagoda that used to sit in the gardens.Kevin Eyles, who volunteers restoring Rivington Terraced Gardens has made a replica of a pagoda that used to sit in the gardens.
Kevin Eyles, who volunteers restoring Rivington Terraced Gardens has made a replica of a pagoda that used to sit in the gardens.

“There were no challenges as such only that by its nature work on that small scale is intricate.”

Kevin says that the pagoda or tea house is a “strange hybrid of an Edwardian English interpretation of an oriental garden”.

He told the Guardian that it has elements of both Japanese and Chinese features.

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The Gardens, which can be found on the hillside below Rivington Pike, were designed by notable landscape designer Thomas Mawson between 1905 and 1922.

Mawson designed the lay out of the Peace Palace gardens at The Hague and also advised on the development of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the United States.

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