It has been hidden under a huge tent for the best part of two years, but finally the newly-restored exterior of Haigh Hall is beginning to reveal itself.

To the untrained eye, it doesn’t look that much different, except for getting new windows, but much of the external renovations have included roof works, plus repairs to the three glass domes and repairs to or the replacing of the chimney pots, cleaning of the external stonework, drainage improvements, iron works and the replacement of rotten timbers throughout.

It has been a mammoth job for a team of experts but only part of a £50m masterplan to transform the grade II*-listed building into a nationally significant arts, culture and heritage destination.

Blaze guts once popular pub near Wigan

There's still a lot of work to do at Haigh Hall but from the outside at least it is looking its own self again - albeit smarter

placeholder image — There's still a lot of work to do at Haigh Hall but from the outside at least it is looking its own self again - albeit smarter

And soon the work will be moving inside to prepare for the creation of restaurants, an underground bunker cinema, a rooftop terrace for astronomy and various art attractions.

Work is scheduled for completion on the hall in 2027.

And then there is other work taking place around the woodland park.

A Woodland Hub and Comet Play Trail will be created this year. Around 500m from the canal, the hub will be for outdoor adventure activities, including a forest school. There will also be seasonal kiosk facilities offering refreshments, public toilets and storage space.

A more familiar scene than the gigantic tent that has dominated the skyline for the last two years

The long-awaited restoration of the Plantation Gates on Wigan Lane are scheduled for completion early in 2026. They will incorporate an aritistic installation, information kiosk in one lodge, including an entrance lobby and ticket office with a rear lobby and accessible toilet.

The former Bothy yard area (where Haigh Zoo used to be many moons ago), which will be used to create a base for training and education, community activities, volunteering, an office for the site team and flexible spaces to support the events programme, is due to open in the autumn of 2026.

And a new glass house is set to open in the walled garden in 2027.

There are also plans to bring the once-hugely popular woodland railway back to life.

There is still some of Haigh Hall's scaffolding still to come down

And multi-award-winning landscape designer and local resident, Michael John McGarr, is to create a new formal garden next to the hall.

Amphitheatre for a Tree is rooted in symbolism, nature and community, with layered seating surrounding a tree set to amplify breathtaking views across the town.