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The Great Britain Guide

Gardens · South West England

Lost Gardens of Heligan

Cornwall's WWI-abandoned-then-restored garden — the Mud Maid, the Jungle, the Productive Gardens.

Lost Gardens of Heligan, gardens in South West England

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
1 h–2.5 h
Best time of year
Spring & summer (Apr–Sep)
Nearest railway station
St Austell · 6.2 km
  • Dog-friendly

About

The Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall — the productive gardens of the Tremayne family, abandoned after WWI, rediscovered in 1990 and restored over 30 years. The Mud Maid sculpture, the Productive Gardens (vegetable terraces, glasshouses, pineapple pit) and the Jungle valley are highlights. One of Britain's most-visited gardens.

Photo gallery

Heritage listing

The Lost Gardens of Heligan (Cornish: Lowarth Helygen, meaning willow tree garden) are located near Mevagissey in Cornwall, England and are considered to be amongst the most popular in the UK. The gardens are typical of the 19th century Gardenesque style with areas of different character and in different design styles. The gardens were created by members of the Cornish Tremayne family from the mid-18th century to the beginning of the 20th century, and still form part of the family's Heligan estate. The gardens were neglected after the First World War and restored only in the 1990s, a restoration that was the subject of several popular television programmes and books.

From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.

Protected designations

  • Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Cornwall

Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.

From the Wikipedia article

The Lost Gardens of Heligan (Cornish: Lowarth Helygen, meaning willow tree garden) are located near Mevagissey in Cornwall, England and are considered to be amongst the most popular in the UK. The gardens are typical of the 19th century Gardenesque style with areas of different character and in different design styles. The gardens were created by members of the Cornish Tremayne family from the mid-18th century to the beginning of the 20th century, and still form part of the family's Heligan estate. The gardens were neglected after the First World War and restored only in the 1990s, a restoration that was the subject of several popular television programmes and books. The gardens include aged and colossal rhododendrons and camellias, a series of lakes fed by a ram pump over 100 years old, highly productive flower and vegetable gardens, an Italian garden, and a wild area filled with subtropical tree ferns called "The Jungle". The gardens also have Europe's only remaining pineapple pit, warmed by rotting manure, and two figures made from rocks and plants known as the Mud Maid and the Giant's Head. They are listed Grade II in Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens. The place name, properly pronounced , and not the commonly heard , is derived from the Cornish word helygen, "willow tree".

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

The Heligan estate was originally bought by the Tremaynes in the 16th century, and earlier members of the family were responsible for Heligan House and the (still private) gardens that immediately surround it. However, the more extensive gardens now open to the public were largely the result of the efforts of four successive squires of Heligan. These were: Two estate plans, dating from 1777 and sometime before 1810, show the changes wrought to the Heligan estate during Henry Hawkins' ownership. The first plan shows a predominantly parkland estate, with the site of today's Northern Gardens occupied by a field. The second plan shows the development of shelter belts of trees surrounding the…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
50.2839, -4.8194
District
Cornwall
Parish
St. Ewe
Postcode
PL26 6EN
Parliamentary constituency
St Austell and Newquay
Nearest railway station
St Austell6.2 km
Official site
www.heligan.com

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Lost Gardens of Heligan?
Lost Gardens of Heligan is in South-West England, United Kingdom (postcode PL26 6EN), in the parish of St. Ewe.
When was Lost Gardens of Heligan built?
Dates from the modern period.
Is Lost Gardens of Heligan a listed building?
Lost Gardens of Heligan is officially recognised as Grade II listed park and garden listed.
Is Lost Gardens of Heligan a protected site?
Yes — Lost Gardens of Heligan is part of the Cornwall National Landscape (AONB).
How do I get to Lost Gardens of Heligan?
The nearest railway station is St Austell, about 6.2 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode PL26 6EN.