Meet the Team - Parks & Gardens Manager

Incredible projects such as the Star Pond restoration don’t just happen overnight and there are a multitude of workers who contribute to the finished product. Working behind the scenes on the Estate, their roles are pivotal to bringing to life ideas and creations that the public will soon get to know and love.

Today we meet David Cullum, Parks & Gardens Manager at Boughton House and Estate.

What motivated the start of Star Pond's restoration?

Duke Richard and the family have always shown great support and enthusiasm toward the restoration of the Star Pond as it would crown the works that have been carried out in recent years throughout the landscape and gardens at Boughton

From a practical perspective, there was a considerable amount of work that needed doing at the Star Pond just to maintain the existing structures, the combination of all resulted in the ambition to restore the Star Pond and the surrounding structures to its original glory.

What challenges were you faced with throughout the project?

To make life harder for ourselves, but also to support a contemporary and necessary approach to environment we also added considerable areas of flood water management, a fish pass and various other landscape restoration projects to the list – that in a normal year would be significant achievements

Along the way we have hit various unforeseen, largely weather and historic archaeology issues (thankfully not too much given the scale of the project! – but enough to make a significant impact to the programme).

What were your first tasks?

I assembled a team of designers, engineers, contractual specialists, ecologists, historic consultants and surveyors to help guide the projects, not to mention the external partnership working with Natural England, The Environment Agency, The Ise Partnership, Historic England and the County Archaeologist

Next came the long and tedious planning process, hampered by various resource problems and a back log of work owing to COVID – I genuinely thought that we would never gain the correct permissions in time to achieve the projects within the parameters of the already tight programmes. Following some very anxious moments and the application of pressure via ourselves and the various partner groups, we eventually received permission.

What are your main daily jobs in relation to Star Pond?

Daily conversations with contractors to answer questions and instruct actions, as well as guiding our own team from an Estate perspective. Also, negotiating contract programmes, costs and decisions throughout as the project manager and client representative for the Estate. I also visit the site regularly, sometimes twice a day to keep an eye on things, answer any questions and talk to the team.

Working with Others

The Land and Water team have been a great asset to the projects, and importantly they have delivered a great result so far. The stonemasons led by A.J Mills and Matt have been equally as dedicated and brilliant as I’m sure the team from Paddock Fencing will be when they add the final smart touches with the fencing. Similar praise can be extended to everyone whose worked behind the scenes, from the engineers, designers, historical consultants, ecologists contractual advisors and Q.S…

What's next for Star Pond?

Inevitably, things won’t stop here, as we continue to evolve the maintenance and presentation of the Star Pond, exploring the desire to return fountains and further formal features in the future, and we still have a considerable amount of work remaining to complete the current higher tier stewardship scheme programme with Natural England, including the completion of the new ‘Geddington Park’ during 2024.