JANET Barnes was standing in the Museum Gardens not so long ago looking at the venerable ruins of St Mary's Abbey. An American tourist approached her. "Did that happen in the Second World War?" he asked, gesturing towards the ruins.

Janet quickly explained about the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, and gave the visitor a brief run-down of English history.

The encounter brought home to her just little how was understood by many people - visitors in particular - about the wealth of history on show in the gardens, also known as the St Mary's Abbey Precinct. And just how little was being done to help them understand and appreciate this history.

The precinct, which stretches from the River Ouse to the City Art Gallery, is unique in Britain for the layers of history it contains, Janet says. Almost the whole of British history from Roman times is represented here on one site, from the Roman ruins themselves to the Anglian tower, the medieval Benedictine abbey and the King's Manor - now part of York University but in the 1600s the seat of the Council of the North and, during the English Civil War, briefly the seat of government.

The area is also important for its associations with the great age of Victorian discovery. The Yorkshire Philosophical Society, which built the Yorkshire Museum in 1827 and designed the gardens in which it stands, was involved in many of the great debates and scientific discoveries of the age.

The society was formed after Ice Age animal bones were found in the Kirkdale caves near Kirkbymoorside. This discovery sparked off a new approach to geology and led to a raging debate between church and the "new geologists" about creation and the age of the world.

The Yorkshire Museum was designed to showcase geological specimens "from every part of Yorkshire". Meanwhile, the gardens were used to plant tropical and other plants from all over the world brought back by globetrotting Victorian explorers.

To this day, Janet says, the museum still has a wonderful collection of dried plants, seldom seen by members of the public.

Even the York observatory - that lovely, brick-built dome almost hidden by shrubbery in the middle of the Museum Gardens - at one time housed the biggest refracting telescope in the world.

Taken as a whole, Janet says, the museum and its gardens are a wonderful reminder of the "spirit of inquiry" that drove the Victorians to explore and try to understand the world.

Yet few who visit would ever realise that. That conversation with the American tourist brought it home to Janet.

"I started to realise that people were completely misinterpreting things," she says.

Janet, who is head of the York Museums Trust, wants to change all of that. She and her team are putting the finishing touches to a bid for almost £5 million of Heritage Lottery funding which, if successful, will help to begin the transformation of this remarkable quarter of York.

Janet sees it being done in two stages. The first phase, costing about £8.5 million - mostly from the lottery pot - would see a revamp of the Yorkshire Museum itself, as well as of the hospitium and the main Museum Street entrance. There would be an attempt to interpret the abbey ruins better, and to open up the gardens to create new views and vistas.

In the second phase, which has not even been costed yet, an attempt would be make to make the art gallery, city library and King's Manor more a part of the St Mary's Abbey precinct. This might see a footpath running to the gallery from the abbey ruins, and an entrance to the gallery from the gardens.

In both phases, there will be a greater effort to interpret for visitors the wealth of history on show in the gardens.

It won't be easy, Janet admits. The precinct's history is so rich and complex, and there are so many planning and conservation issues involved, that getting it right will be a "tall order". The scheme is also entirely dependent on the success of the lottery bid.

But such an incredible site in the heart of the city deserves the effort and imagination such a transformation would involve. "If we could pull it off, it would be fabulous," she says.

Janet Barnes took the Evening Press on a tour of the Museum Gardens to explain her vision.

Phase 1

The Museum Street entrance

STAND at the listed gateway and look into the Museum Gardens and there is not much to see. Trees and shrubs obscure the Yorkshire Museum and the abbey ruins. York people know what treasures lie inside, but casual visitors don't.

Janet hopes to clear away some of the trees and shrubs (none of the Museum Gardens' famous "champion trees" will be touched, she says) so that from the entrance visitors can catch a glimpse of the abbey ruins, and the gardens will appear more welcoming

The gardens

MORE judicious clearing of shrubs could open up the gardens. Shrubs could be cleared away from around the observatory, for example - and views could be created down to the river. Some of the trees between the multangular tower and the museum itself could also be cleared.

At the moment Janet says it is so dark that nobody wants to walk there.

She would also like to see much more interpretation of the ruins and historical buildings - not necessarily in the form of plaques, but perhaps by means of guided walks or historical trails.

She would like to see more lighting, too, and the gardens being opened up later into the evening for events, to attract more people to use them.

The Yorkshire Museum

A REVAMP of the museum is central to Phase One. At the moment it is crammed so full of material in almost permanent storage that there is little room to display anything. She would like to move much of the stored material out to a museum store elsewhere in the city, clearing more space for displays.

She envisions four main display areas, set over two floors, each being used to house revolving themed exhibitions that last anything from six months to five years. That would mean getting rid of the museum's permanent exhibitions - but there should always be something new and different for visitors to see, she says. She also plans to have a caf, better wheelchair access, and more educational space.

St Mary's Abbey

THE ruins themselves are in good condition, and apart from some better lighting would not need much work. But they represent only a small part of the great abbey that once stood here, and which stretched up towards the art gallery.

Janet would somehow like to 'define' the interior of the old abbey - possibly, although this has not yet been decided, by paving in York stone the area where it once stood - so that people got an idea of just how big it once was. "It was almost the same size as the Minster, and it must have been incredible," she says.

The hospitium

When St Mary's Abbey was at the height of its power and influence, the hospitium was the guest hall for pilgrims and other visitors. It is still in pretty good condition, and is occasionally used to host events such as craft fairs. But if it was refurbished with proper toilets and kitchens, it could be used for so much more, Janet says - complementing conference facilities at the Tempest Anderson Hall to make an outstanding conference base in beautiful surroundings.

Phase 2

Art Gallery and Kings Manor

BOTH these buildings have their backs to the Museum Gardens. The gallery in particular seems a long way away, Janet says, and does not feel part of the abbey precinct at all. She would like to open a footpath from the abbey ruins to the back of the gallery, so that people can get direct from the Museum Gardens into the gallery.

That would also open up the almost forgotten area of the gardens, where the north end of the old abbey once stood, which is little used because there is no way out.

Talks could also be held with the University of York on how to make the King's Manor more a part of the precinct. Janet is also interested in the idea of creating a "high view" from the art gallery - possibly from the roof - where people could look out over the gardens.

Updated: 11:04 Thursday, November 03, 2005