The Lost Gardens of Heligan

Heligan is one of the great garden restoration stories. The gardens surrounding the Tremayne family estate were tended by a team of gardeners who left for the First World War trenches and largely never returned. The gardens were abandoned, engulfed by brambles and fallen trees for 75 years, then spectacularly restored from 1991 onwards by Tim Smit (who later went on to create the Eden Project). The gardens are vast and varied — the Productive Gardens with their Victorian walled gardens, pineapple pits, and bee boles; the Pleasure Grounds with their huge rhododendrons and camellias; the Jungle with its subtropical valley of tree ferns, bamboo, and banana plants; and the wider estate with wildflower meadows, ancient woodland, and the Lost Valley. Allow at least half a day — the full circuit takes 2-3 hours at a reasonable pace, longer if you explore all the paths. The Giant's Head and the Mud Maid sculptures are magical. The farm shop and café use produce from the estate's own gardens. It's a deeply moving place — the memorial to the gardeners who died in WWI, hidden in the thunderbox room, is one of the most quietly powerful war memorials in Britain.