Enjoying the warmth of the
Gulf Stream, the magical
gardens of Cornwall feature
a variety of rare and beautiful
plants and trees.

My friend and I decided to visit
the area for the first time, and
in the process, proved you donʼt
have to fly or have a car, to do so,
as we went by buses, ferry and
trains from Dublin to St. Austell,
Cornwall, via Bath.

We took Bus Éireann to the
Ferry port at Rosslare, then got a
combination Sail and Rail ticket
to Fishguard and Bath. After a
couple of nights in the lovely
city of Bath, we took the train to
St. Austell station, where buses
leave regularly to the gardens
of Eden and Heligan– each of
which would need at least a day
to enjoy fully.

The Lost Gardens of Heligan
Heligan, seat of the Tremayne
family for more than 400 years,
is one of the most mysterious
estates in England. The gardens
were developed between 1770
and 1914 by four generations of
the Tremayne family, with fabulous
glasshouses, walled gardens,
and outbuildings.

At the end of the nineteenth
century its thousand acres were
at their zenith, but only a few
years later bramble and ivy had
taken over. After decades of neglect,
the devastating hurricane
of 1990 should have consigned
the Lost Gardens of Heligan to a
footnote in history.

However, a visit by the remarkable
Tim Smit (Managing Director
of Heligan) and a Tremayne
descendant, John Willis, led to
the rediscovery and restoration
of these legendary gardens.

As Smit wrote, “events conspired
to bring us here and the
romance of their decay took a
hold on our imaginations. Our
discovery of a tiny room, buried
under fallen masonry in the corner
of one of the walled gardens,
was to unlock the secret of their
demise. A motto etched into the
limestone walls in barely legible
pencil still reads ʻDonʼt come
here to sleep or slumberʼ with
the names of those who worked
there signed under the date– August
1914.

“We were fired by a magnificent
obsession to bring these
once-glorious gardens back to
life in every sense and to tell, for
the first time, not tales of lords
and ladies but of those ʻordinaryʼ
people who had made these gardens
great, before departing for
the Great War.”

We enjoyed wandering around
the gardens on our own, although
there was a tour if you wanted it.
We explored pleasure grounds,
the northern summerhouse and
vegetable garden, the melon
yard, the flower garden, the sundial
garden, the wishing well,
crystal grotto, the Italian garden,
and the New Zealand garden.
We took the woodland walk
and admired the sculptures, had
tea in the tearooms, and more.
But the highlight was the jungle,
a trek down a path through
a steep-sided south-facing ravine
which is several degrees warmer
than the northern gardens above,
and planted with exotic plants
and trees between 1890 and
1910. Take your map with you–
it is a big place.

Heligan now has a large working
team with its own vision for
its second decade. The awardwinning
garden restoration is already
internationally-acclaimed;
but the lease now extends into
well over 200 acres of the wider
estate, leaving the project far
from complete. Heligan is a living
and working example of the
best of past practice.

The focus is on working with
nature, accepting and respecting
it and protecting and enhancing
the variety of habitats with which
the gardens are endowed. An impressive
range of wild flora and
fauna has been identified within
the gardens and estate, and visitors
are welcome to explore the
Heligan landscape to try and observe
both common and rare species
for themselves.

You can also visit Horsemoor
Hide, the Wildlife Interpretation
Centre, where ʻliveʼ images of
Heligan wildlife are displayed
on indoor plasma screens, drawing
you into the dramas of life in
the natural world in an intimate
and unedited manner, as they occur.
These privileged, close-up
views of the life cycles of some
of the creatures with whom people
share the countryside can
offer valuable insights into the
factors accounting for success
or failure in the wild, thereby
informing Heliganʼs future land
management practices.

Visiting Cornwall
As we only had a day in Heligan,
and we discovered there
was so much to see and do in
Cornwall, we will have to go
back some time. With its mild
climate, beautiful cliffs and long
stretches of beach, Cornwall, on
the far western tip of England,
has long been a popular summer
holiday destination.

In recent years, there has been
an influx of chic and contemporary
hotels and restaurants, but
there is much history to explore
and natural beauty to admire.
Evidently, Cornwall is great for
watersports such as surfing and
kitesurfing, and there are miles
of coastal walks.

To learn more, check out the
sites www.greatgardensofcornwall.co.uk,
www.heligan.com,
www.kingharryscornwall.co.uk,
and www.edenproject.com.

Pictures: The barn owl and
kingfisher.