The National Trust is set to rip out astroturf at a Grade I listed estate in South Buckinghamshire.

Planners have given the charity permission to resurface the path in the Long Garden at the Cliveden Estate on Cliveden Road, Taplow.

The path at the historic estate is currently covered in artificial grass, but the trust has a policy of removing all artificial grass from its properties.

Designers said the replacement of the fake grass would improve the look of Cliveden’s Italianate-style garden, which was created for created for American politician William Waldorf Astor in around 1896, and today receives some 500,000 visitors a year.

Its plans read: “The historic setting requires traditional materials in keeping with the existing palette found at the property.

“We have chosen Apperley antique paving which will be laid in a random coursed pattern. This is an indigenous York stone that is used elsewhere historically at Cliveden. It has an aged appearance.”

Planning officers at Buckinghamshire Council said that six Grade II listed sculptures could be removed from the garden while the resurfacing of the path took place, but that they must be put back within six months of the work being completed.

Heritage officers said the garden included four Italian statues of ‘Commedia dell Arte figures’ and two Italian stone statues ‘possibly by Bonazza of Navigation and the Commandante del Mar’.

Planting in the garden is currently being re-designed and there are plans to introduce new plants in Autumn 2025.