The original gardens were created to serve a home called the Bungalow (demolished in 1948) belonging to Leverhulme, a founder of Lever Brothers, today known as Unilever.

Inspired by Villa d’Este near Rome,[citation needed] its design features in his book 'The Art and Craft of Garden Making, published in 1912.

Three were small prefabricated cottage-style properties, the fourth was Stone House Lodge, which had a design with an archway incorporated and build over the entrance.

Roynton Cottage was built on the hillside and was a large prefabricated wooden structure, purchased from the Portable Building Company, Manchester, earth was first broken for it in 1900,[3] this wooden structure was destroyed 1913 in an arson attack by suffragette Edith Rigby The home and grounds were referred to in the Liverpool Corporation Act 1902 as 'The Bungalow', owned by William Hesketh Lever, was protected from being taken by the water company without an agreement, the act also protected Leverhulmes shooting rights.

During the Leverhulme era, the Bungalow and Rivington Hall were home to a highly valuable collection of antiques, from paintings, furniture, statues, pottery, and tapestries.

[7] The area is now woodland with remains including foundations of the bungalow, a number of stone summer houses, footpaths, steps, bridges, three ponds, streams, and the restored Pigeon Tower.

Above the ornate fireplace on the upper floor is an inscription of their initials, spelling WHEEL, William Hesketh Elizabeth Ellen Lever and Leverhulme's motto, ‘MUTARE VEL TIMERE SPERNO’ ‘I spurn the fear to change’.

After his death his executor offered the property to Bolton Council who turned it down, fearing the effect of increased local rates needed to cover maintenance costs.

The Liverpool Corporation Act required that the land owners consent always be obtained for commercial use, since the water company took ownership they have operated without restriction.

In the mid-1970s the landowner planned to demolish the remaining garden structures, this was prevented by intervention with listed building status by Chorley Council.

From 1976 a local voluntary group, the Bolton Conservation Volunteers stepped in and cleared overgrowth and worked to maintain what had by then become an important public asset.

Rivington Heritage Trust, a body set up in 1997 by United Utilities in order to obtain £15 million in funding for 'Blue Planet Park' had its plans rejected for funding by the Millennium Commission which would have seen them take over all of Lever Park and Rivington Pike, plans were opposed by six regional MPs and were met with huge local opposition.

A concern was that the area would be used as a venue for music festivals and other events and fees would be charged, Sue Wright, Media Relations Manager for North West Water made a public statement saying they would never do so.

[22][23] By 2016 the trust and Groundwork Cheshire Lancashire and Merseyside were successful in obtaining a grant of £3.4 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund to conserve and repair the Rivington Terraced Gardens and remaining Grade II listed structures.

The public footpath number 82 runs through the gardens from the Ravine via the former Japanese and Kitchen Gardens, which is also an area of open access land with a right to roam, passing upward past the Great Lawn and an area of Bilberries[1] part of the West Pennine Moors SSSI,[30] toward the site of the former Bungalow and landmark Pigeon Tower then heading to Rivington Pike via Belmont Road.

Roynton Road (USRN: 7400820) provides access to the hillside and the Terraced Gardens from Lever Park and Sheep House Lane, from the direction of Chorley, Belmont and Horwich, the route has locked gates.