Lost Gardens of Heligan
Romantic, restored ruined gardens
At the Lost Gardens of Heligan 200 acres of exquisite planting have been rediscovered after being hidden under brambles for 70 years. Their restoration has revealed one of England’s finest gardens.
The Heligan Story
Home to the Tremayne family for 400 years, Heligan’s sweeping 1000-acre estate fell into decline after the men who worked there went off to fight in WWI. Many didn’t return.
Tim Smit (the man behind the Eden Project) found the gardeners’ names scrawled on the wall of a derelict ‘thunderbox’, or outside toilet. The discovery sparked his determination to discover their stories and restore the grounds they’d worked on.
The Restoration
Work to recreate Heligan’s former glory began in 1990 and was dubbed by the Times newspaper “the garden restoration of the century”. Over the following decades staff cleared overgrowth, restored buildings and replanted species.
Things to See & Do