A MAJOR scheme is underway to partially restore Birkenhead's historic Flaybrick Memorial Gardens.

The £325,000 project - jointly funded by Wirral Council and Historic England - is bringing fresh hope for the future of Flaybrick, one of England’s most important Victorian garden cemeteries.

Historic England has provided an £8,000 grant to appoint leading conservation architects Purcell with Southern Green to prepare a conservation management plan for the cemetery.

The specialists will work with the Friends of Flaybrick and the wider community to look at the present day needs of the entire site - from trees to landscape design and graves.

The plan will be completed by the summer and is expected to allow the local authority to make informed decisions about Flaybrick’s future and secure its removal from the Heritage at Risk Register.

Councillor Jerry Williams, Wirral’s heritage champion, said: “We believe Flaybrick is one of the finest locations of funerary architecture in Britain.

"We are working with Historic England to make the chapels safe once again, which we feel will go a long way to improving public perception and appreciation of this important location."

Flaybrick opened in 1864 to the designs of Edward Kemp, Superintendent of Birkenhead Park.

It is the final resting place of more than 100,000 people from the Wirral area and beyond, including Kemp himself.

The cemetery’s significance is recognised by its Grade II* listing on the register of historic parks and gardens.

Burials at Flaybrick stopped in 1975.

The Roman Catholic chapel was demolished and the surviving chapels became disused and fell into disrepair.

By the 1980s their roofs and central spire had been removed for safety. They were fenced off and became a target for vandalism.

Urgent repairs to the derelict chapels began last autumn and are continuing. It is hoped they will be completed by spring.

Historic England’s principal heritage at risk adviser Charles Smith said: “Flaybrick Memorial Gardens has an important place within the local community but also helps tell the story of this area’s history.

"We look forward to working with both the council and the Friends of Flaybrick to improve its long-term management and are aiming towards getting it removed from the Heritage at Risk Register.”