Winter Gardens Pavilion, Weston-super-Mare

The Winter Gardens Pavilion is a neo-Georgian pavilion located in the English seaside town of Weston-super-Mare. The pavilion was originally completed in 1927 and included extensive gardens, a tennis court and a putting green. Much of the gardens are now covered by the nearby Sovereign Shopping Centre and the garden's eastern wall forms the boundary of the town square.HistoryThe idea of creating a Winter Gardens Pavilion in Weston-super-Mare dates back to at least 1881. Due to restrictive covenants on a plot of seafront land named Roger’s Field, on which the Winter Gardens now stands, the town’s first Summer and Winter Gardens complex was opened on the Boulevard. These buildings were destroyed by bombing on 28 June 1942. The use of Roger’s Field as a potential site for a ballroom and indoor event venue was discussed by the Town Advertising Association in 1914, however the outbreak of the First World War postponed the development.In 1922, the Urban District Council purchased Roger’s Field by compulsory purchase order at a cost of £2,640 with the intention of creating an ‘Old English Garden’. Henry Butt, of the former Weston-super-Mare quarry, gifted the town council money to cover the sale in 1925. On 15 September 1923, the town council discussed plans to create rose gardens, terraces and shelters on the plot of land, but the scheme was deemed to be too unambitious and did not meet the town’s need for a venue which could be used for entertainment during the autumn and winter months.The current Winter Gardens Pavilion was designed in 1924 in a collaboration between landscape architect Thomas Hayton Mawson and town surveyor Harry Brown. A height restriction imposed by a covenant relating to the nearby Royal Hotel compromised the design and resulted in a sunken ballroom and a small domed roof.