A CONSERVATION charity is asking for pledges from Minehead supporters to help it buy an abandoned ‘green oasis’ plot of land in the town centre.

Former council nursery site Clanville Gardens is being auctioned on Wednesday (June 19) with a guide price of £30,000.

Minehead Conservation Society wants to save the one-acre ‘secret gardens’ for the town and has until 4pm on Monday to register a bidding interest.

But to do so it needs to pay £6,200 as a security deposit, and will need to be able to cover the purchase price within eight weeks.

So, the society has issued a plea for pledges of support from people who were willing to help contribute toward a successful bid for the site, which has been largely neglected since the 1950s.

Society chairman Sally Bainbridge said Clanville Gardens was a ‘hidden gem’ sandwiched between Holloway Street, Market House Lane, and the new Clanville housing development.

She said: “It is an oasis of peace and calm, landscaped on four different levels, with remnants of its palm gardens.

A derelict building on the Clanville Gardens site in Minehead which is up for auction.
A derelict building on the Clanville Gardens site in Minehead which is up for auction. PHOTO: Hollis Morgan. ( )

“It also has a derelict building.

“For a number of years volunteers maintained it, having recognised its historic importance to the town.”

Now, Somerset Council has declared it surplus to requirements and instructed Hollis Morgan to dispose of it via an auction which will be live streamed online on Wednesday, starting at 5.30 pm.

Clanville Gardens will be lot two of 51 properties being auctioned that evening.

Mrs Bainbridge said: “The society would like to try and save this site for future generations to enjoy and as a first step are seeking an indication that members feel the same.

“In order for us to consider this further please could you let us know if you would be willing to contribute towards a fund to purchase the land.

The now-padlocked gateway and steps to the Clanville Gardens site in Minehead.
The now-padlocked gateway and steps to the Clanville Gardens site in Minehead. (Tindle News)

“We have already had several substantial, tentative, pledges should this proceed.

“Final ownership could end up with Minehead Town Council or a trust as being the best body to take a long-term view.

“In this case your money would be a donation rather than an investment.

“The final structure has yet to be decided, but if we do move forward full details will be provided before we ask for any contributions.”

Mrs Bainbridge said although the guide price was £30,000, the figure could not be considered anything other than a guess.

She said pledges of support, which can be made by emailing the conservation society at [email protected], would only be called in if the society was successful at the auction.

A spokesperson for Hollis Morgan said the site comprised mature gardens and a derelict detached building in the heart of Minehead.

The spokesperson said: “Although the site would make an attractive landscaped garden, there is scope for development of the site and derelict building, subject to gaining necessary consents.”

The gardens was once part of the Victorian Clanville Grange estate, and was used for a time as a horticultural facility to provide plants for the town’s Blenheim Gardens.