COBHAM Park near Gravesend will be saved thanks to a grant of £4.98 million announced by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The project will restore the buildings and landscape of Cobham Park, several of which are nationally important, such as the Darnley Mausoleum, featured last summer on the BBC2 series, ‘Restoration’.

The grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund will provide 75 per cent of the project costs with the remaining 25 per cent coming partly from English Heritage and the Cobham Ashenbank Management Scheme (CAMS).

It is hoped that funding will also be received from the Government through the Thames Gateway Sustainable Communities Plan.

Phillip Smart, project manager of the Cobham Ashenbank Management Scheme, said: “This is such a deserving project, the benefits to the Thames Gateway and the emerging regional park for North Kent, are only just starting to be realised.

“Cobham Park provides something for everyone interested in our heritage and environment, whether that is architecture, wildlife, garden history, social history, or just simply enjoying the outstanding countryside.”

Dr Michael Houghton, regional manager for the Heritage Lottery Fund, said: “The restoration of Cobham Park, the park’s buildings and wider landscape, is a worthy and exciting project for the HLF to support.”

Sophie Raworth, celebrity supporter of the Darnley Mausoleum from BBC television’s ‘Restoration’ series, said: “It’s fantastic news. I’m so pleased for the team who’ve worked really hard to save this building.

“It’ll make a huge difference to the area and I’m really looking forward to seeing it again when it’s been restored to its former glory.”

Work is likely to start on the main buildings towards the end of this year and last for about 18 months.