THE renovation of a North-East country park's historic buildings has started as part of a multi-million pound scheme to re-awake the Grade II-listed site.

The restoration of three of the main structures at Hardwick Park, near Sedgefield, County Durham, to their original Georgian splendour is expected to take more than a year to complete.

About £1.5m will be spent giving facelifts to follies created in the 1750s for wealthy local businessman John Burdon.

One of the most distinctive buildings, standing on a hilltop, is The Temple of Minerva, which had to be almost completely demolished in the 1970s because it was unsafe.

The council has recovered 16 of the 20 original stone columns and some capitals and bases for the most expensive of the building restorations, expected to be completed next spring.

Most of the stone from a Gothic-style seat has been recovered and will be used to rebuild it, offering visitors a clear view of the park's main features.

Basic repairs were carried out by Durham County Council and Sedgefield Civic Trust in 1989 on a Gothic tower, originally built in 1764, to make it safe after years of wear and vandalism.

But the new scheme will see the stone tower and its turret completely rebuilt.

Tony Smith, the council's countryside group manager, said: "The buildings make this site so important because they were by London architect James Paine, who rarely did projects of this scale.

"We have to strike a balance between conserving what is here now and restoring the site and its buildings to their original state to show visitors how the park was when it was used by John Burdon and opened to local people."