Secret Gardens of Heligan

The Lost Gardens of Heligan

All gardeners live in beautiful places because they make them so.

The Lost Gardens of Heligan are so named because they were lost to memory due to a series of events that unfurled from the 1910s right up to the 1990s. Once a thriving country estate complete with its resplendent fruit and vegetable gardens it first started its decline at the time of the 'Great War of 1914-19 when many of its workers were enlisted into the British Army and shipped over to France to fight in the trenches that claimed the lives of so many. Indeed, over half the men from Heligan lost their lives in the fields of Flanders alone.

And after the war, when the men returned to England, there were not enough to engage in gardening because of the shortage of manpower and so the gardens carried on in neglect and slowly, but surely, fell asleep amidst the green canopies of the English countryside. And so it remained, gaining naught but formidable walls of brambles and wood to deter all who came near.

And so it lay in slumber soothed only by the sound of bird-song and crickets until 1990 when four men cut the first of the brambles and endeavored to uncover the secrets within. And as they slowly progressed through the gardens they discovered not just a garden, but a piece of history! You see, the gardens had not been touched or altered by any since the war years and even the tools lay where they had been placed by those same men who last worked there. It is not the place of this page to delve into the history of Heligan, but to merely show you the gardens as they are now. For a full history and other information, then please visit the official website at: http//www.heligan.com

Garden view
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Heligan is a very large garden and should not be rushed! The central areas can take a fair few hours to traverse and to enjoy the walk around you should take your time and take a relaxed pace.
They have a wonderful in-house cafe and the food is very good indeed and most are prepared from the gardens vegetable beds and picked on the day as it was in times gone by. There is an excellent plant sales area and again, they are for the most part I believe, grown on-site. The gift shop has just about everything so the choice is huge and you can be left deliberating as to the best purchases for friends and relatives, or even yourself.
You will be given a map of the gardens to help you find your way around and for first-timers, the best walk is around the main area that houses the vegetable gardens, out-buildings, animal pens, various gardens such as the Italian garden, etc.

Small paths meander and criss-cross all around, sometimes leading to little surprises like a seating area, ponds, and even a rope bridge to traverse across down in the tropical valley. In damp weather, try to wear sturdy walking boots if possible as it can get a little steep, slippery, or muddy in places but overall the paths are kept in really good condition, and considering they look after 200 acres, that's quite a feat!

In the farm area, you can spot the sheep, and lambs in spring in the lambing barn, the pigs, and sometimes their piglets if they have had any. Ducks, geese, chickens are there too in their own enclosure, and if you are lucky you may spot the shire horse and the cattle in the other fields. Heligan has a wonderful Hide where you can observe the birds feeding on the many feeders that the staff put out for them and there is a wide range of birds that visit including Tree Sparrows, Tits, Nuthatch, Finches, and many others.
Heligan
We always carry a bit of birdseed to put out when we encounter one of the many Robins that seem to be all over the gardens. In the summer there are many small eateries around the main gardens including ice-cream huts and tea-rooms so refreshments are always close at hand.

The gardens offer much through the different seasons and if you live in Cornwall it is so tempting to pop in whenever time permits to see those changes and we tend to go there once a month as we live about 15 miles away and we love to walk through the gardens at any time of the year. We have traversed some of the outlying walks which run around the perimeter of the grounds and we always spot something new to see.

And after a long walk, we stop at the cafe to try out the homemade soup of the day, or one of the many other tempting treats on offer, all washed down with a great coffee from the barristers. Being keen gardeners walking past the plant section is about as hard as it gets, so we often go home with another plant to find a home for in our own gardens. There are many different gardens throughout Cornwall that offer great views, all types of walks from the gentle to the testing and Heligan is right there at the top of them, so please go if you can, you will not be dissapointed!

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