Heligan, seat of the Tremayne family for more than 400 years, is one of the most mysterious estates in England. At the end of the 19th century, its 1000 acres were at their zenith, but only a few years later bramble and ivy were already drawing a green veil over this "Sleeping Beauty". After decades of neglect, the devastating hurricane of 1990 should have consigned the Lost Gardens of Heligan to a footnote in history - instead, events conspired to bring us here and the romance of their decay took a hold on our imaginations….
The award-winning garden restoration is internationally acclaimed; but the lease now extends into well over 100 acres of the wider estate, leaving the project far from complete. It is intended for Heligan to remain a living and working example of the best of past practice, offering public access into the heart of what is doe there.
The contemporary focus is to work with nature, accepting and respecting it and protecting and enhancing the variety of habitats with which our project is endowed. An impressive range of wild flora and fauna has been identified within the gardens and estate, and visitors are welcome to explore the Heligan landscape to try and observe both common and rare species for themselves.
There is a pioneering Wildlife Interpretation Centre, where 'Live' images of Heligan wildlife are displayed on indoor plasma screens, drawing you into the dramas of life in the natural world in an intimate and unedited manner, as they occur on site. As well as this to be found, amongst other things are:
* The Northern Gardens, which contain productive and pleasure gardens.
* The ‘Jungle’ an exuberant subtropical garden that hosts a riot of outstanding trees and luxuriant foliage, much of which was originally collected from around the world by the Victorian plant hunters.
* The ‘Estate’ - containing semi-natural ancient woodland.
There is also a tearoom (The Heligan Tearoom) on site which won the Silver Award in the "Cafe of the Year" category. The 2008 Cornwall Tourism Awards ceremony took place at the Headland Hotel, Newquay on 16th October.
