The Lost Gardens of Heligan, near Mevagissey in Cornwall, are one of the
most popular botanical gardens 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. The place name, properly pronounced
'h'LIG'n', and not the commonly heard 'HEL-i-gun', is derived from the Cornish
word helygen, "willow tree". Geography
The Lost Gardens of Heligan completely surround Heligan House and its private
gardens. They lie some 1.5 mi to the north-west of, and about 250 ft above,
the fishing village of Mevagissey. The gardens are 6 mi by road from the town
and railway station of St Austell and are principally in the civil parish of
St Ewe, although elements of the eastern gardens are in Mevagissey parish.
The northern part of the gardens, which includes the main ornamental and
vegetable gardens, are slightly higher than the house and slope gently down to
it. The areas of the gardens to the west, south, and east of the house slope
steeply down into a series of valleys that ultimately drain into the sea at
Mevagissey. These areas are much wilder and include The Jungle and The Lost
Valley. 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
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: Rev. Henry Hawkins Tremayne
John Hearle Tremayne, son of Henry Hawkins Tremayne
John Tremayne, son of John Hearle Tremayne
John Claude Lewis Tremayne, son of John Tremayne and better known as "Jack"
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 gardens, and the main shape of the Northern
Gardens, the Mellon Yard and the Flower Garden are all readily discernible.
Henry Hawkins' descendants each made significant contributions to the
development of the gardens, including the ornamental plantings along the
estate's Long Drive, The Jungle, the hybridising of rhododendrons and their
planting around Flora's Green, and the creation of the Italian Garden.
Before the First World War,the garden required the services of 22 gardeners to
maintain it, but that war lead to the deaths of 16 of those gardeners, and by
1916,the garden was being looked after by only eight men. By the 1920s, Jack
Tremayne's love of Italy, which had earlier inspired the Italian Garden, led
him to set up permanent home there, and lease out Heligan. The house was
tenanted for most of the 20th century, used by the US Army during the Second
World War, and then converted into flats and sold, without the gardens, in the
1970s. Against this background, the gardens fell into a serious state of
neglect, and were lost to sight. After the childless death of Jack
Tremayne, the Heligan estate came under the ownership of a trust to the benefit
of several members of the extended Tremayne family. One of these, John
Willis, lived in the area and was responsible for introducing record
producer Tim Smit to the gardens. A group of fellow enthusiasts and he
decided to restore the garden to its former glory, and eventually leased them
from the Tremayne family. The restoration, which was the subject
of a six-part Channel 4 television series produced by Bamboo Productions
and Cicada Films in 1996, proved to be an outstanding success, not only
revitalising the gardens but also the local economy around Heligan by
providing employment. The gardens are now leased by a company owned by their
restorers, who continue to cultivate them and operate them as a visitor
attraction. References
Further reading Philip McMillan Browse: Heligan: fruit,
flowers and herbs. Penzance 2005: Alison Hodge. ISBN 0-906720-40-0
Heligan Manor Gardens Project: A Brief History and Guide to Heligan. Heligan
1994. Ivor J. Herring: 400 years of Tremaynes
at Heligan. St Austell 1999: Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. ISBN
0-902660-26-8 Colin Howlett: Heligan Wild: a year of
nature in the lost gardens. London 1999: Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-06751-9
Landranger Sheet 105 – Falmouth & Mevagissey, London 2006: Ordnance
Survey. ISBN 0-319-23706-0 Tom Petherick: Heligan: a portrait of
the lost gardens. London 2004: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN
0-297-84344-3 Tim Smit: The Lost Gardens of Heligan.
London 1999: Victor Gollancz. ISBN 0-575-06765-9
Tim Smit: The Heligan Vegetable Bible, London 2002: Cassell Illustrated. ISBN
1-84403-003-2 Tom Petherick & Melanie Eclare: The
Kitchen Gardens at Heligan: lost gardening principles rediscovered.
London 2006: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-84405-9
Media Free Range Television: Heligan. Past,
Present & Future. A Tenth Anniversary Celebration. Heligan 2001.
Vivianne Howard, Barbara Flynn, Rosemary Forgan & Frances Berrigan: The lost
gardens of Heligan: an exquisite garden emerging like "Sleeping Beauty" from its
seventy year sleep, London 1997: Channel 4 Video. ASIN B00004CTZH
The Return To The Lost Gardens Of Heligan – The Myths And Discoveries
Michael Hutchinson, Channel 4 Video ASIN B00004CY3I
"Heligan: Secrets of the Lost Gardens". Natural World episode 3, 2011–2012,
BBC2. First broadcast 17 Aug 2011 External links
The Lost Gardens of Heligan homepage The Lost Gardens Official Facebook
The Lost Gardens Official Twitter