The Lost Gardens of Heligan (Cornwall, England)
Don’t worry — they were found again some time ago!
The Story of Heligan
The Heligan estate, five miles south of St Austell in Cornwall, England, was acquired by the Tremayne family in the 17th century. A succession of Tremaynes, in the 18th and 19th centuries, developed the grounds and introduced a number of exotic plants that could thrive in the mild climate of Cornwall, and especially the micro-climate created by the steep-sided valley that leads away from Heligan House.
Early in the 20th century, the gardens provided full-time employment for 22 people but then came major changes that threatened their very existence. Sixteen of the gardeners were killed in the First World War, and in the 1920s, the owner decided to move to Italy and lease the house to tenants. Eventually, the house was sold, and the gardens were allowed to grow wild and thus be “lost.”
It was not until the early 1990s that work started to restore the gardens, this work being done largely by volunteers. The gardens are now a major attraction and a valuable resource in terms of their botanical contents and as a reconstruction of a Victorian estate garden.
