It’s
almost six hours from London by car to St Austell, the largest town
closeby, and another thirty minutes to Mevagissey, the Cornish fishing
village bordering the Heligan estate and where we chose to stay overnight.
The roads are excellent and to see what awaited us was well worth the
journey.
Heligan
was the seat of the Tremaynes for almost 400 years.
In the seventeen
hundreds, the Tremaynes were one of the wealthiest families in England. To indulge a
whim, the Lord of the manor, decided to establish the most beautiful garden in England.
He despatched sea captains to far off shores to bring back seeds
and cuttings of rare, tropical plants and he employed a team of designers,
horticulturalists and botanists to assist in fulfilling his dream.
Three generations
later, by 1914, the thousand acres were at
their zenith. All 25 of the
estate’s gardeners at the time, enlisted in the British army and sadly,
only five returned from the trenches. The Tremaynes moved on to another of
their estates, closer to London.
And as our excellent guide, Tessa
explained “Thus began the decades of neglect when brambles and ivy drew
a green veil over our sleeping beauty”.
A
chance meeting in 1998 between
Tim Smit (of the Eden Project) and one of the descendant of the Tremaynes
who had recently inherited the land, saved the gardens from the bulldozers
and the developers of a proposed caravan site.
The men’s energy and commitment have restored the garden to its
former glory and today a team of dedicated gardeners work intensively and
meticulously by hand, using the best of past practices.
Heligan
is about ordinary people who worked with passion and a vision to make this one of England’s greatest
gardens.
Particularly touching is the motto of the gardeners’ of 1914,
preserved in an etching found in the limestone walls of one of the tiny
work sheds: “Don’t come here to sleep or slumber”.
At
its heart are the highly productive walled areas and historic glasshouses,
rescued from total dereliction and restored to full function. The
Tremaynes led the Victorian passion for exotic fruits and our guide explained
how the family sought to be amongst the first to cultivate pineapples in
England and how they developed means of nurturing the fruit in hot houses,
warmed by heated, steaming manure. Today,
these hot houses are in perfect working order, again producing delicious
fruit every year.
A
climb down into the steep valley of the Jungle takes you along a wooden
boardwalk through giant tree ferns, banana palms and enormous rhubarb.
It’s an exciting area, very reminiscent of an exotic Tarzan film set,
where veteran plants have developed leaves stretching over 2m in
diameter.
“It’s all down to the sea salt laid down by the
early gardeners to inhibit the growth of weeds”, Tessa informed us.
Breathtaking views stretch to the cliffs of Mevagissey and beyond, and one
can almost feel the presence of the Tremaynes entertaining family and
friends in these very convivial gardens.
A
stroll through the pastures of the weird and wacky Wilshire Longhorns
(these sheep shed their woollen coats) takes you to the Horsemoor
Hide and wild life project. Here
it’s possible to view the secret lives of the garden’s wildlife
through a network of micro-cameras. Badgers,
pipestelle bats, barn owls and scores of birds can be observed live, going
about their daily business in their natural habitats.
A
Cornish cream tea beneath towering purple rhododendrons almost drew our
day at Heligan to a close but not before we’d paid a visit to every gardener’s idea of retail heaven.
The spacious store stocks quality seedlings nurtured by the Heligan
gardeners from their own cuttings; unusual accessories such as my
favourite, the collapsible wire Spiraclimb which encourages creepers to
grow in an obelisk shape; wooden bird tables, carved from the
estate’s own timber; and a library of inspirational and gardening
know-how. Then on to Lobb’s the excellent farm stall that sells produce
from the gardens, the
superb local lamb and beef, glorious clotted
creams, and of course, the ubiquitous Cornish pasties!
We
visited Heligan during spring, but the gardens are well worth viewing at
all times of the year. “Each
season has its own charm and beauty” said Tessa.
They are open every day except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day from
10 am. Entry fee is 7 pounds
sterling.
Whilst
in the area, the Eden Project gardens
at Bodelva, St Austell is highly recommended.
In
complete contrast is the refinement of the Italian gardens with their
charming summerhouses, herbaceous borders, wishing wells and ornate
statues. Magnificent flowering rhododendrons and camellia line the
original garden paths which amazingly were almost in pristine condition
beneath the brambles.