AN APPLICATION is seeking permission to provide disabled toilet facilities in a historic walled garden in Monmouth.

Listed Building Consent has been sought to erect an accessible toilet in the ground of the Nelson Garden in Monmouth. The garden, which has at times included a tennis court, a bowling green and a viewing platform for watching horse races on the adjacent Chippenham Fields, is named in honour of the visit of Admiral Lord Nelson to the town in 1802.

The garden, which is leased by The Nelson Garden Preservation Trust, is owned by Lloyds Bank and is regularly open on Fridays and for Open Doors events.

The Trust says that, in order to sustain and grow, the garden needs to have a toilet - without which it will be impossible to deliver the educational, musical and other activities that are planned as part of the project which is the basis of a current Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) application.

The application is also needed to carry out urgent repairs to the Grade Two* listed pavilion and to the heated wall.

The site chosen for the new toilet is that of the former gardeners’ toilet of which only a small portion of the walls remain.

The original scheme was for a brick-built toilet, to match the red brick of the existing garden walls, but costs including excavation and archaeological impact meant the original application was rejected by HLF.

The revised scheme meets the HLF’s requirements and would allow £56,000 to be spent on repairs to the pavilion and hot wall.