About Us
To ensure that the Bailey Hill site is maintained and developed now and, in the future, for both the local community and visitors in the area – a Tripartite Partnership Board has been formed between Flintshire County Council (The Local Authority), Mold Town Council (The Town Council) and Friends of Bailey Hill (a local charity) to oversee the project.
A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding was signed by all three, committing them to use their best endeavours to improve and make the most of the park. Each partner has key tasks to address, to ensure the sustainability of the project.
Flintshire County Council
Bailey Hill is owned, managed and maintained by Flintshire County Council. The play area is maintained by the Council through Aura Leisure and Libraries and further funding from the Council has been allocated relocate and install a new play area on Bailey Hill in line with the “Revealing Mold’s Bailey Hill” project.
As the owners of the site the Council is the main partner with regards to the funding secured for the initial project and project managed the physical redevelopment of the site. The Museums, Heritage and Culture Manager for Aura Leisure and Libraries took an active role overseeing the administration and funding for the project.
Mold Town Council
It’s been Mold Town Council’s long-term ambition to restore Bailey Hill to a well-used public park, and to tell the stories of Mold’s turbulent past as a Welsh border town.
Public surveys showed that there was local demand to make significant improvements to Bailey Hill and it was recognized as an asset to Mold. In 2008 the Town Council started to make small incremental steps towards these improvements. A new guided walk and some interpretation was introduced in 2010 and the first Bailey Hill Festival was held.
In 2013 Mold Town Council was able to lease the Custodian’s Lodge from Flintshire County Council, under a 25-year agreement. It was rented out as a family home and the income was used to match-fund further improvements to Bailey Hill, including both the Heritage Lottery Fund development and delivery stages.
The ground floor of the Custodian’s Lodge is now a wonderful multi-purpose community space – the Bailey Hill Centre – with a two-bedroom residential flat above. Rental income is supporting the building’s sustainability.
The Heritage Lottery Fund financed a Bailey Hill Project Officer employed and managed by Mold Town Council. The Officer is responsible for recruiting and managing volunteers and delivering a varied programme of activities at Bailey Hill. Due to the success of the project the Bailey Hill Officer role has be combined with the Business Regeneration Officer role and shows the commitment of Mold Town Council to continuation and development of our local historical site, Bailey Hill.
‘Friends of Bailey Hill’ (Ref No 1179312)
The Friends of Bailey Hill was formed in February 2018, as a charity and Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) to help reinforce local efforts (ongoing since 2011) to ensure that the Bailey Hill was substantially improved and conserved. The charity now has over 100 members.
Its charitable objectives are:
- To promote for the inhabitants of Mold, Flintshire and the surrounding area the provision of facilities for recreation or other leisure time occupation at Bailey hill for the public at large – in the interest of social welfare and with the object of improving the condition of life of residents and visitors.
- To promote for the public benefit, the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment at Bailey Hill by promoting biological diversity and to respect the history of the site, its special landscape features and status as a Scheduled Ancient Monument
- To advance the education of the public – by promoting opportunities within Bailey Hill for learning about the heritage of the public park and the natural environment through structured training and educational programmes.
Forming a new charity, FoBH/ FfByB, in February 2018, thus enabling the tripartite partnership to apply for and access Heritage Lottery Funds (c. £973k) to upgrade the park. The charity’s representatives contributed many hours to tripartite discussions with the two local authority partners and other experts how best to refine and deliver the overall £1. 3M HLF Plus Project to upgrade the park – inputting advice and ideas on a wide front. It also raised other monies, as match-funds, to underpin the upgrade.
The Friends will continue to be a member of the Tripartite Partnership Board overseeing the Project as a whole, and the full roll-out of the ‘HLF Plus Project’. It is committed to taking an active role in maintaining the revamped shrub and flower beds (Beds 18>22) on the Inner Bailey, and to erecting more bird and bat boxes (as advised by the North Wales Wildlife Trust. It will maintain the features it has introduced – e.g. the Heritage Daffodils Display. Having reviewed Edward Kemp’s 1871 planting list, and taken on board the views of the Welsh Historic Gardens Trust, it will also add a few scented flowering shrubs – of the type Kemp would have liked – along the eastern perimeter. Further small improvements to the perimeter pathway routes also need to be pursued and delivered in due course.
