Hillworth Park in Devizes will reopen on Saturday after a major transformation.

Devizes Town Council, which owns the park, in Hillworth Road, received a £1.2 million Lottery grant towards the work.

The park is often referred to as the town’s hidden gem and Mike Hasted, the town council’s park development officer, believes people will be impressed with it.

He said: “It looks fantastic. It will be a great facility for Devizes. You can sit and enjoy a bit of tranquility, while there will be regular activities, including music.

“We have a Facebook page. People have got in touch saying their father used to work at the park as a warden and others have said they used to play there as a kid.”

The park has been closed for the past ten months for the work to take place.

As part of the upgrade, it has been opened up with the removal of the central hedge.

Wide gravelled paths, traditional benches and lamp posts give the park a neat and contemporary feel.

A new park centre, which has a café, can be hired for meetings and courses.

Nearby is the restored Queen Anne Pavilion, a Grade II* listed building, that had been boarded up for several years. It will be open for people to look round.

In between the park centre and the pavilion is a new reflective pool, made out of polished black granite and where the water will be a couple of inches deep.

There is play equipment for children, fitness equipment, a new tennis court and aviary, plus 14,000 plants.

Mr Hasted said: “We did public consultation on what facilities the park should have and the aviary was almost top of the list of what people liked about it. A café was pretty much second.”

The total cost of the project is £1.8 million, with other funding coming from the town council, waste management company Viridor and others. The Lottery award was given by the Heritage and Big Lottery Funds’ Parks for People programme.

Funding also paid for full-time park warden Simon Lathbury for five years.

The town council has worked closely with The Friends of Hillworth Park on the project for the past four years.

The official opening will take place on Saturday at noon with events until 4pm including live music, a children’s entertainer, a cooking demonstration by Devizes chef Peter Vaughan and guided tours.

For more information, visit www.hillworthpark.org.uk