The Mount, Fleetwood: Doreen Lofthouse donates £1m to restore garden
- Published
Plans will go before Wyre Council's cabinet on 18 February
A 19th Century landmark in Lancashire is set for a £1m facelift funded by the woman credited with turning Fishermen's Friend lozenges into a global brand.
Wyre Council said the Mount in Fleetwood will be "restored to its former glory" thanks to another gift by the Lofthouse family.
The authority said the resort was "indebted" to the family.
The Grade II registered Mount Garden was designed by architect and landscape designer Decimus Burton in the 1800s.
Councillor Vivien Taylor, cabinet member with responsibility for parks at Wyre Council, said the personal donation by Mrs Lofthouse means it "can breathe new life into this iconic piece of Fleetwood's past".
If plans are approved, the restoration will be done in two stages.
The first includes restoring railings and shelters, as well as landscaping the seaward side of the garden.
The council will then use the remainder of the money to apply for match-funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore the pavilion - which is also Grade II registered - gate lodge, rose gardens and landscaping of the landward side.
The Mount was designed by architect and landscape designer Decimus Burton
If approved at a cabinet meeting on 18 February, it will follow restoration work under way in two other parks in Fleetwood - Euston Park, which also designed by Decimus Burton, and Memorial Park.
Fisherman's Friend was originally developed by Fleetwood pharmacist James Lofthouse in 1865 to relieve various respiratory problems suffered by fishermen working in the Icelandic deep-sea fishing grounds.
It remains a family firm and current owners Tony and Doreen Lofthouse transformed the cough sweets into a global brand, external which is available in more than 100 countries.
The family set up the Lofthouse Foundation in 1994 and put a percentage of company profits into the charity to fund special projects to benefit Fleetwood.
In 2006, the family paid for the restoration of a replica of the London Eros statue and donated it to the town.